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Solar Hieroglyphics. 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS; 



THE EMBLEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS 



JJEVEALED pOCTRINE OF THE |rI-PERSONAI |oDHEAD 



WHICH ARE DISCERNIBLE IN THE SOLAR LIGHT. 



mim m itttwflttrtfott 



REV. J. GRIER RALSTON, D. D. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

SMITH, ENGLISH & CO., 

710 ARCH STREET. 

1874. 



3TW 
.Sb 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, 

By SMITH, ENGLISH & CO., 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



PHILADELPHIA 
SHERMAN & CO., PRINTERS. 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface, vii 

Ode to Light, xi 

Introduction by Rev. J. Grier Ralston, D.D., . xiii 

Introduction, xvii 

FIRST PART. 

Preliminaries, 25 

First Section. — The ascertained constitution of the 
solar light is emblematic of the revealed constitu- 
tion of the Godhead, 31 

Second Section. — The co-operative economy of the 
solar light is emblematic of the co-operative 
economy of the Godhead in the works of creation, 
redemption, and personal salvation, ... 34 

Third Section. — The manifestive or luminiferous con- 
stituent of the solar force is especially the emblem 
of the Son of God, 54 



VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



SECOND PAET. 

PAGE 

Preliminaries, 62 

First Section. — The solar light is the cause of color 

in natural objects, 66 

Second Section, — Colors have a hieroglyphic history, 82 

Third Section.— The colors inherent in the light are 

emblematic of the perfections of the Godhead, . 96 



PREFACE. 



The following essay is intended as a contribution 
to the interests and literature of " Christian Evi- 
dence/' 

It is but an essay, and does not pretend to be ex- 
haustive. There are riches of emblematic instruc- 
tion yet to be attained by means of a patient and 
sober-minded consideration of the solar light, and 
the hieroglyphic systems and objects and hues that 
have derived their significance from the light, par- 
ticularly those of the Tabernacle of Jehovah in the 
desert of Arabia, and of the prophetic drama of the 
Apocalypse. And the writer of the following pages, 
who is now T seventy years of age, would fain hope 
that some mind of higher culture and greater vigor 



Vlll PREFACE. 

may be induced to investigate the subject more 
thoroughly and minutely, and bring out treasures 
of illustration that shall inform and interest and 
instruct. 

The " Undulatory Theory " of light is considered 
in the Introduction, and is shown to be a theory of 
luminosity (merely), by means of a supposed "lu- 
miniferous ether," rather than a theory of the solar 
force, which is commonly called "the light," and 
which includes in its constitution the three distin- 
guishable principles called the actinic, the luminif- 
erous, and the calorific. And the generally received 
theory of "the cause of color in natural objects" is 
considered in the Second Part. 

And while reviewing those theories, the mind of 
the writer was impressed by the fact, that much of 
the " literature of modern science," by reason of its 
speculations formed on phenomena, tends to a dis- 
belief in the observable realities of nature, and thus 
prepares for a disbelief in the revealed realities of 
God. 

And throughout the composition of the essay, the 



PREFACE. IX 

writer has had in mind that whatever influence for 
evil may proceed from the speculations of certain 
modern scientists, the carnal and skeptical reason- 
ings of certain moderns called " theologians," have 
a more direct and powerful influence for evil by 
perverting the Gospel of Christ and inducing a 
disbelief in the revealed mystery of the Tri-personal 
Godhead — the Three in One. 

Philadelphia, 

October 28, 1873. 



ODE TO LIGHT. 

Hail, glorious Light — transcendent Mystery, 

Vesture and hieroglyph of Deity ! 

Before thy brightness, Keason veils her eyes, 

And Faith exults in God, the Unity. 

The One in Three — th' eternal Three in One. 

All hail, celestial, glorious Light ! 

Mysterious Witness of eternal Truth. 



INTRODUCTION. 



"Who by searching can find out God? Who 
can find out the Almighty to perfection?" His 
self-existence, His underived, independent, neces- 
sary existence, baffles our utmost efforts to con- 
ceive, because there is nothing analogous to it 
among creatures ; but we understand that He does 
exist, and the fact is established by arguments 
clear and satisfactory. Of some of His natural and 
of all His moral perfections there is a faint resem- 
blance in ourselves ; so that we do not use words 
without meaning when we speak of His power, 
His knowledge, His goodness, and His justice. 
Nor are we entirely at fault, when we consider His 
unity and affirm that there is one Being possessed 
of all possible perfection, and that there is not, and 
cannot be, more than one. But another step under 
the guidance of revelation introduces us into a 
mystery that astonishes reason, and upon which no 
exertion of intellect can throw a single ray of light. 

We readily believe that there is one God who 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

created the heavens and the earth, and that He is 
entitled to the homage of their inhabitants. 

But as soon as we open the Bible we are met by 
a doctrine which seems opposed to this primary 
truth : for while polytheism is everywhere con- 
demned, the true God himself is represented as in 
some respects more than one. As the Scriptures, 
in their account of Him, associate the ideas of 
unity and plurality, we are bound to admit the 
fact, however incapable we may be of understand- 
ing it ; for our conceptions of God should in all 
things be conformable to the revelation he has made 
of Himself. 

The doctrine that there are three persons in the 
Divine essence, the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, and that these Three are the same in sub- 
stance and equal in power and glory, is peculiar to 
the religion of the Bible. This great truth could 
not have been discovered by the light of nature or 
by unassisted reason. It is above comprehension, 
and is therefore called in the Scriptures a mystery. 

We must regard it as a fundamental article of 
the Christian faith. Without the knowledge and 
belief of it, we can have no proper understanding 
of the new covenant in which the Three Persons of 
the Godhead have a place so conspicuous. This 
doctrine runs through the whole of religion and 
affects our entire obedience. All our comforts, tem- 
poral and spiritual, flow from it. Believers hold 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

communion ^vitli the Father, in contemplating the 
love He displayed in sending His Son into the world 
to be a propitiation for their sins. With the Son 
in what He has done for them in the various offices 
which He executes, and in every relation in which 
He stands to them. And with the Holy Ghost in 
His various gifts and graces, and sanctifying influ- 
ences. 

We cannot know too much of this profound 
mystery. It increases our reverence for God as a 
Being infinitely exalted above our conceptions. It 
introduces us to the grandest of the works of God, 
the work of Redemption, in which the Three Per- 
sons act distinct and essential parts. 

With the view of leading Christians to more inti- 
mate relations to the blessed Persons of the Trinity, 
and thus promoting their growth in grace, this little 
book has been given to the world. Hoping to aid 
others in their meditations upon this cardinal doc- 
trine of our faith, the learned author has spread 
upon the following pages some thoughts illustrative 
of it, suggested by his investigations of light ; a 
subject for the discussion of which he has eminent 
qualifications. 

From the nature of light, and from its intimate 
relations to things material and immaterial, it seems 
well adapted to the purpose for which it has here 
been used. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

May " God, who commanded the light to shine 
out of darkness, shine in our hearts, to give the 
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 
face of Jesus Christ." 

J. Gkier Ralston. 

Norristown, Pa., 

March 24, 1874. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In coming to the consideration of the " theologi- 
cal illustrations discernible in the solar light/' it is 
proper that the theory concerning light, which at 
present prevails, should in the first place be de- 
scribed and reviewed. 

From the days of Sir Isaac Newton to the early 
part of the present century, the " Corpuscular 
Theory " was entertained. The adherents of that 
theory " imagined light to consist of particles darted 
out from luminous bodies ;" but this hypothesis 
has now been displaced by another, which is the 
" Undulatory Theory," and is advocated by many 
distinguished scientists in Germany, England, and 
the United States, and is presented in a clear and 
concise manner by Dr. Schellen of Cologne. He 
says : 

" According to the theory generally received at 
present, the whole universe is an immeasurable sea 
of highly attenuated matter, imperceptible by the 
senses, in which the heavenly bodies move with 
scarcely any impediment. This fluid, which is 
called ether, fills the whole space — fills the inter- 
vals between the heavenly bodies, as well as the 

2 



XV111 INTRODUCTION. 

pores or interstices between the atoms of substance. 
The smallest particles of this subtile matter are in a 
constant vibratory motion ; when this motion is 
communicated to the retina of the eye, and if the 
impression upon the nerves be sufficiently strong, 
it produces the sensation which we call light 

" Every substance, therefore, which sets the 
ether in powerful vibration is luminous ; strong vi- 
brations are perceived as intense light, and weak 
vibrations as faint light, but both these proceed 
from the luminous object at the extraordinary 
speed of 180,000 miles in a second, and they neces- 
sarily diminish in strength as they spread them- 
selves out over a greater space. 

" Light is not, therefore a separate substance, 
but only the vibration of a substance, which, ac- 
cording to its various forms of motion, generates 
light, heat, and electricity." 

Professor TyndalPs statement of this theory is in 
full accord with the preceding, though differently 
expressed, thus : " A luminous body is supposed to 
have its atoms, or molecules, in a state of intense 
vibration. The motions of the atoms are supposed 
to be communicated to a medium suited to their 
transmission, as air is to the transmission of sound. 
This medium is called the luminiferous ether, and 
the little billows excited in it, speed through it 
with amazing celerity, enter the pupil of the eye, 
pass through the humors, and break upon the ret- 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

ina or optic nerve, which is spread out at the back 
of the eye. Hence the tremors they produce are 
transmitted along the nerve to the brain, where 
they announce themselves as light. 

This ingenious theory is open to weighty objec- 
tions. For, in the first place, it is held in violation 
of one of the first principles of the inductive phi- 
losophy which demands that, " if you undertake to 
assign the cause of an observed phenomenon or ef- 
fect, you are bound to prove the existence of the 
alleged cause, and that it is adequate to produce 
the effect ascribed." But the existence of the al- 
leged universal and " luminiferous ether " is merely 
assumed,— is avowedly " supposed ;" and this gra- 
tuitous assumption elicited from Professor Faraday 
the remark — " If theke be an ether." 

And further : The conception of a universal and 

generative ether has been derived, in modern times, 

from the mythology and poetry of the ancient 

Greeks and Romans. For example, Euripides 

says : 

11 Thou seest this lofty, this unbounded ether, 
Encircling with his fluid arms the earth ; 
Esteem this Joye, this venerate as God." 

And Virgil has the phrase, " Pater omnipotens 
sether." 

The theory, however, is advocated by means of 
an argument from analogy. Dr. Schellen says : 
" This representation of the nature of light ceases 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

to be surprising when we come to compare the vi- 
brations of ether with those of atmospheric air, and 
draw a parallel between light and sound, between 
the eye and the ear. " . . . . " Air in motion, by 
its influence on the organs of hearing, is the cause 
of sonnd ; ether in motion, by its influence on the 
organs of sight, is the cause of light." And Pro- 
fessor Tyndall speaks of " the fundamental analogy 
of sound and light." 

But this analogy is not real. It is " supposed," 
and supposed analogies are generally fallacious. 
And besides this, it is unphilosophical to allege an 
analogy between that which is known and that 
which is unknown; as, for instance, between the 
vibrations of the atmosphere and the supposed vi- 
brations of an imagined ether. And further; the 
above argument, from an assumed analogy, rests 
chiefly on the tacit assumption that the vibrations 
of the atmosphere are the only media of sound, but 
it is well known that sound is transmitted through 
fluids and solids; as, for example, through and 
under water, and through wood and metals ; and 
also that sound is transmitted more readily and 
speedily through certain metals, in certain condi- 
tions, than by atmospheric vibrations. 

But even the theory of sound from which the 
argument is derived is itself defective and errone- 
ous. It teaches that atmospheric vibrations 
" produce sound," that " air in motion is the cause 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

of Bound." But this is philosophically incorrect, 
and as used is delusive. 

Sound is indeed an effect, and its causes are va- 
rious and many ; but while vibrations are the chief 
media of the transmission of sound, they are not in 
any instance its true and proper cause. 

The truth of these remarks may be shown and 
illustrated by noticing the song of the lark. 

The little songster rises from his lowly nest 
among the grass of the field, " and as he soars he 
sings ;" his warblings being incited by love for his 
brooding spouse. His song agitates the surround- 
ing air causing it to vibrate in accordance with the 
pitch and modulations of his music ; and by means 
of the atmospheric vibrations his song is transmitted 
to the ears of men ; and the philosopher and the 
ploughman are at the same time regaled by his ex- 
ultant strains ; and most probably the ploughman 
has an advantage over the philosopher. For while 
the scientist may be speculating on the " tremors " 
of auditory nerves and brain, and fancying that 
u air in motion is the cause " of the music he hears, 
the rustic looks up at the tiny bird, regarding him 
as the cause of that sweet morning melody. 

In this instance and illustration several particu- 
lars claim a reflective regard. The moving cause 
of the mid-air melody is love, joyous exultant love; 
but the particulars to be considered are these, namely, 
the organs of hearing in the man ; the vibrations of 



XX11 INTRODUCTION. 

the air, which are the media of transmission ; the 
vibration of the little larynx, which are the occa- 
sion of the music, and the psychical or vital force in 
the lark, which is the proper and immediate cause. 
Or if the order be reversed, the psychical or vital 
force in the bird exerted at his pleasure, causes the 
vibrations of the larynx; the same force passing 
outwards (and by means of the vibrations of the 
larynx) causes the vibrations of the atmosphere, 
and by means of these vibrations, the force emitted 
through the larynx of the lark reaches the ears and 
acts upon the auditory nerves of the man. 

The vibrations of the atmosphere are not the 
cause of the melodious sounds ; neither can vibra- 
tions cause vibrations. The force that causes the 
first vibration in the series is the cause of the 
second ; and so also of the entire series : for as " no 
agent can act where he is not ;" so no force can 
operate where it is not ; therefore, as the " Undula- 
tory Theory " teaches that intense agitation at the 
surface of the sun causes the vibrations of a uni- 
versal and luminiferous ether ; the force that agi- 
tates the photosphere is the same that operates to 
the utmost limits to which the alleged ethereal 
vibrations extend. In other words, the force that 
agitates at the surface of the sun is the same that 
reaches the eye and reports itself as light 

Some one has said : " There is truth in things 
that are false." And it is highly probable that 



INTRODUCTION. XX111 

there is an element of truth in the Newtonian 
Theory of Emission, and also in the more modern 
theory of Undulation. The error of the Corpus- 
cular or Emission theory is that it represents light 
to be material, and not in that it represents light 
as flowing out from the sun ; and the error of the 
Undulatory Theory is that it denies that light is a 
real outflowing entity ; and reduces it to nervous 
and cerebral " tremors " and " sensation ;" and not 
in that it describes the motion of light as being in 
the way of undulation, wavelet, or vibration. The 
element of truth in the former is that it represents 
light to be an actual emanation from the luminous 
body, its source : and the element of truth in the 
latter is that it represents the motion and transmis- 
sion of light to be in the way of wavelets or undu- 
lations. And if these elements of truth be com- 
bined, a defensible theory of light may be formed 
and shown to be worthy the acceptance of the most 
reflective minds. But " What is light?" To this 
question diverse answers have been returned ; as, 
for example, in the theories just now reviewed. 
And here it may be proper to remark that the es- 
sential nature of light is unknown and cannot be 
ascertained. The What ? the Why ? and the How ? 
in the ways and works of God are beyond the range 
of human intelligence.* 

* It will be understood that the above statement relates to 
the essential nature of things and the primary causes of con- 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

The universe of created being consists of matter, 
and force, and life ; but the essential nature of life, 
or of force, or of matter we know not, neither can 
we know. In other words human knowledge, 
however profound, is not and cannot become posi- 
tive or absolute, but of necessity is only relative and 
circumstantial. But the truth of this is commonly 
ignored by prominent teachers of " modern sci- 
ence," men who observe and reason about phe- 
nomena, and then publish their inferences as being 
the ultimate truth. And in this way theories are 
advanced which are antagonistic to the information 
and teaching of Holy Scripture ; and consequently 
the style and tone of much that is called " sci- 
entific literature " tends to undermine the popular 
belief in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, 
and to induce a blighting skepticism, especially in 
the case of youthful and energetic minds. And 
hence it becomes those who confess and maintain 
the divine authority of the Bible to exhibit the un- 
soundness of antagonistic and plausible theories ; 
and to show and maintain that true science is in 
harmony with Divine Revelation ; that the works 
of God when truly known and the word of God 
when truly understood are found to be in true ac- 
cord. 

stitutional existence, &c, and is not intended to apply to the 
contrivances, adaptations, and methods of operation dis- 
cernible in natural objects. 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 



FIRST PART, 



PRELIMINARIES. 

From Holy Scripture we learn that light is 
a reality created and constituted by the wisdom 
and will of God; and by significant intima- 
tions therein we learn that the force which, at 
an early stage of the creation, became lumi- 
nous is itself more than luminosity. For exam- 
ple : " And God said, Be light and light was." 
Arid again : " God who commanded the light to 
shine out of darkness," &c. These are evident 
intimations of the truth that God commanded 
a previously created force to become luminous 
by becoming active or fluent. And these inti- 
mations are strengthened by the fact that in 
the cosmogony of Moses the Hebrew word for 

3 



26 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

light is ohr, and that this word, as a verb, sig- 
nifies to flow ; and therefore, as a noun with a 
formative, it means a river, a flood or flowing 
mass of water, as it is said of the Nile, " The 
flood of Egypt." In its primary, verbal intent 
and usage the word ohr signifies to become 
luminous by flowing. 

Holy Scripture mentions the natural sources 
of light, — the sun, the moon, and the stars. 
The two chief sources are not merely called 
" lights" but luminaries; the word mah-orh', 
meaning a light-holder or luminary ; that is, a 
source from which light flows out ; the prefix 
mah denoting the idea of from. "And God 
made two great luminaries ; the greater lumi- 
nary for the rule of the day, and the lesser 
luminary for the rule of the night." 

We are thus informed that the sun was con- 
stituted the primary source of light, the grand 
centre of radiation, "to give light upon the 
earth;" and for the same intent the moon was 
constituted the chief mediate source of illumi- 
nation. The moon is commonly spoken of as 
being a reflector, but the true idea of a reflec- 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 27 

tor is that of a smooth and polished surface, 
which the moon has not. 

The truth would seem to be that the moon 
is a receiver and accumulator of light, and that 
it shines responsively to the greater luminary, 
the derived and accumulated light flowing back 
towards its source, and the earth, being (ordi- 
narily) on the path of the responsive light, re- 
ceives a portion of that modified luminous 
force called " the light of the moon." And 
that the light does flow back towards its source 
or centre of emanation is shown by M. Fi- 
zeau's experiments for measuring the velocity 
of artificial light; for which purpose he em- 
ployed a very ingenious apparatus : and the 
oxyhydrogen light flowed back about 28,000 
feet to the source whence it emanated. And 
this experimental fact suggests the idea of cir- 
dilation in the case of the solar force, as known 
by the name of light ; and this suggested idea 
is in accordance with a prominent character- 
istic of nature in the earth and in the heavens. 
Circulation is everywhere. For instance : In the 
mighty oceans there are currents and counter 
currents, and circulation incessantly proceeds. 



28 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

In the atmosphere currents flow on, and circu- 
lation is perpetually sustained. And among 
and between the planets reciprocally the circu- 
lation of the electric force unceasingly trans- 
pires, and thus is occasioned the variable elec- 
tric condition of the earth and its atmosphere 
(and this may be but the varying presence, in 
degree, of the solar force in a modified state, 
and on its return passage towards the central 
source), and the planets circulate around the 
sun,* while around themselves their own satel- 

* The circulation of comets, in their characteristic orbits 
round the sun, may also be mentioned in the way of illus- 
tration. 

The proper and restricted relation of comets to the solar 
system and its lordly centre is fully recognized, and that 
they are " quite without the attraction of any body which 
does not belong to that system." And by means of appro- 
priate calculations it has been concluded that certain planets, 
Jupiter and Saturn, for instance, have (subordinately) an at- 
tractive influence on their return towards their perihelion 
or nearest approach to the sun ; and also that when at their 
aphelion, or greatest distance from the sun, u their motions 
are comparatively slow." And from these and such like 
considerations it is judged to be exceedingly probable that 
the circulatory motion of comets is caused and controlled 
by the solar force, commonly known by the name of^ light; 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 29 

lites revolve. And suns and systems and stel- 
lar continents circulate around their common 
centre, which may be the throne of God. 

Again, in Holy Scripture a manifold emble- 
matic significance is ascribed to the light, and 
therein it is intimated that light is the garment 
of God, as it is said, " Thou coverest thyself 
with light as with a garment. 5 ' And in this 
saying allusion is made to the mode of Divine 
manifestation to Moses at Horeb, and to the 
manner in which the Divine Presence went be- 
fore the tribes of Israel at their exodus from 



and that motion would seem to be caused and controlled in 
the way of both propulsion and attraction. Thus, the 
comet accumulating solar (electric) force on its approach 
towards the sun becomes surcharged with that force when 
at its perihelion, and being then electrically positive it is re- 
pelled and propelled by the eve?' positive centre ; and the 
comet being electrically negative when at its aphelion, it is 
attracted by that ever positive centre of dominant force, 
and is caused to return and do homage to the solar orb. 

And it is exceedingly interesting to know that the circu- 
lation of the blood in the human system (for example) can 
be shown to be caused and controlled by the same unity of 
force (called light and electricity), and by means of the 
same laws of repulsion and attraction. 



30 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

Egypt, and during their migrations in the Ara- 
bian wilderness. 

On one occasion, during the time of his hu- 
miliation, the Lord assumed his vestment of 
light, when " His face did shine as the sun, 
and his raiment was white as the light." And 
after he had risen, and had returned into the 
glory which He had with the Father before the 
worlds were created, He appeared to Saul of 
Tarsus, and spoke to him out of the midst of 
" a light from heaven above the brightness of 
the sun." 

And again, the highest emblematic use made 
of light is in the sentence, " God is light, and 
in him is no darkness at all." Light is a cre- 
ated reality, and is the constituted emblem of 
the Creator. And when it is said, " God is 
light," the moral purity, perfectness, and inhe- 
rent excellencies of the Deity are especially in- 
tended ; and even more than this is involved, 
and may be instructively perceived through a 
devout consideration of that which is revealed 
concerning the Godhead, and a careful consid- 
eration of that which is ascertained concerning 
the solar light. 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 31 



First Section. 

THE ASCERTAINED CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR LIGHT IS 

EMBLEMATIC OF THE REVEALED CONSTITUTION 

OF THE GODHEAD. 

The constitution of the Godhead, as made 
known in Holy Scripture, is Tri-personal, the Di- 
vine Trinity in Unity. This fundamental form 
of the Christian faith is set forth in Holy Scrip- 
ture in the way of "many infallible proofs/' 
But for our present purpose one or two refer- 
ences will suffice. For instance, when the 
risen Lord instituted Christian Baptism He 
commanded his Apostles to baptize the con- 
verts to the Christian faith into the name (eis 
to ovo/ia, which signifies into the confession) " of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost." And the unabridged form of apos- 
tolic benediction is in these words, " The grace 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, 
and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be 
with you all. Amen." And receiving into our 
heart the truth of this sacred mystery, " we wor- 
ship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, 



32 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

neither confounding the Persons nor dividing 
the Substance. For there is one Person of the 
Father, another of the Son, and another of the 
Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, 
the glory equal, the Majesty coeternal." .... 
" So the Father is God, the Son is God, and 
the Holy Ghost is God ; and yet there are not 
three Gods, but one God." 

Men who boast of the capabilities of reason 
reject the truth of divine revelation concerning 
the adorable Trinity. And, in the vanity of 
their mind, they think to justify their disbelief 
by saying, " It is mathematically impossible 
that one can be three, and that three can be 
one." But "their foolish heart being dark- 
ened" they lose sight of the fact that mathe- 
matics can apply only to material things. It is, 
indeed, impossible that one atom of matter can 
be three atoms, or that three atoms can be one; 
but neither this nor any such like proposition 
can relate to the constitution of the Godhead, 
nor even to the constitution of the light. And 
light is the emblem of God : as it is said " God 
is light," and the light is the only creature of 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 33 

God that furnishes an illustration of the adorable 
Trinity in Unity, the Father, and the Son, and 
the Holy Ghost. 

The emblematic illustration discoverable in 
the solar light may be readily perceived. For 
example : 1. " God is spirit," and the light is 
immaterial. At its centre of radiation, and 
also in its mode of evolution, light is associated 
with matter, but the light itself is not mate- 
rial; and the truth of this is not questioned in 
the theory of undulation. 2. Spirit is the na- 
ture of the Godhead, and the light is homoge- 
neous. It is customary with scientists to speak 
of light as being heterogeneous; but this error 
arises out of another, which is that light is de- 
composed by means of the prism, and as shown 
in the solar spectrum. But in every instance 
of decomposition the elements of that which is 
decomposed are separated each from the other, 
and are thus set free to enter into new combi- 
nations. Take, for example, the decomposition 
of water. By its analysis the hydrogen and 
oxygen, of which it was composed, and the 
electric force, by which these were combined, 
are set free and dispersed. But no correspond- 



34 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

ing effect is produced on light by its passage 
through a prism. "No real analysis or decom- 
position of the light is shown in the solar spec- 
trum ; only a revelation. 3. The Godhead is a 
Tri-personal Unity, and the light is a Trinity. 
Being immaterial and homogeneous, and thus 
essentially one in its nature, the light includes 
a plurality of constituents, or, in other words, 
it is essentially three in constitution, its con- 
stituent principles being the actinic, the lumi- 
niferous, and the calorific. And in glorious 
manifestation the light is one, and is the cre- 
ated, constituted, and ordained emblem of the 
Tri-personal God. 



Second Section. 

THE CO-OPERATIVE ECONOMY OF THE SOLAR LIGHT IS 
EMBLEMATIC OF THE CO-OPERATIVE ECONOMY OF THE 
GODHEAD IN THE WORKS OF CREATION, REDEMPTION, 
AND PERSONAL SALTATION. 

It has already been observed that the essen- 
tial nature of things is unknown and cannot be 
ascertained. Neither can we comprehend the 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 35 

"How?" anymore than the "Why?" or the 
"What?" We cannot comprehend how the 
three distinguishable constituents of light are 
combined in constitutional unity or oneness. 
And this being true in relation to the finite 
— the creature — with unspeakably greater force 
is it true in relation to the infinite — the eter- 
nal Creator. 

Skepticism, in the case of men " who pro- 
fess and call themselves Christians," is the rea- 
son why it is necessary to remark that the mode 
of the Divine Existence, or how the Three Di- 
vine Persons constitute one God, no created 
intelligence can conceive. But this sacred and 
profound fundamental mystery is announced 
and taught in the Christian Eevelation, and by 
the faithful is believed. 

The essential relations of the Three Persons 
in the unity of God no created mind can com- 
prehend. But the official and revealed rela- 
tions, subsisting in the Godhead for the pur- 
poses of creation, moral government, and 
redemption, are intelligible to spiritual under- 
standing and faith. And here it should be ob- 
served that it is in the order of the revealed, 



36 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

official, and co-operative relations in the God- 
head that the Father is first, the Son is second, 
and the Holy Ghost is third. In other words, 
the order of Divine appellation is shown to be 
determined by the order of Divine co-opera- 
tion ; for in Holy Scripture origination, in the 
sense of purpose or design, is ascribed to the 
Father; the elaboration of original design is 
ascribed to the Son ; and the consummation of 
the elaborated purpose is ascribed to the Holy 
Ghost. At the same time the whole is ascribed 
to the co-operation of the Adorable Three, — the 
Eternal Unity. 

1. The origin of the universe is ascribed to 
the purpose or will of the Father, where it is 
said, "God created all things;" and again, 
" Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory 
and honor and power ; for thou hast created all 
things, and for thy pleasure they exist and were 
created." 

2. The elaboration of the divine purpose, 
the actual work of creation, is ascribed to the 
Son. " In the beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God. All things were made by Him, and with- 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 37 

out Him was not anything made that was 
made." "For by Him were all things created 
that are in the heavens, and that are upon the 
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or 
dominions, or principalities, or powers, all 
things were created by Him and for Him ; and 
he is before all things, and by Him all things 
consist." 

3. The consummation of the work of creation 
is ascribed to the Holy Ghost, when it is said, 
"By his Spirit he garnished the heavens;" 
that is, He beautified and completed the work. 
But it is in the work of redemption and per- 
sonal salvation, and the gift of eternal life, that 
the co-operation of the Three Persons in the 
Unity of God is more fully revealed. 

1. The mystery of the Incarnation is ascribed 
severally to each of the Persons in the God- 
head. 

a. The prophet, while personating the Mes- 
siah or Christ, ascribes the humanity to the 
appointing will of God the Father, saying, " A 
body hast thou prepared me;" and the intent 
of these words may be thus expressed, " Thou 



38 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

hast assigned to me a human constitution and 
capacity to hearken and obey." 

b. The assumption of the humanity ap- 
pointed by the Father is shown to be the per- 
sonal act of the Son : " Forasmuch as the chil- 
dren are partakers of flesh and blood, He also 
himself likewise partook (^ere^/e) of the same." 
" He took on him the seed of Abraham." 

c. The humanity appointed by the Father, 
and assumed by the Son, is ascribed to the mi- 
raculous agency of the Holy Spirit. The angel 
Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary, " The Holy 
Ghost shall come upon thee, even the power 
of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; there- 
fore also that Holy Begotten One (yewtifxevov) 
shall be called the Son of God." 

2. The mission of the Christ is thus severally 
ascribed : " The Father sent the Son." " Christ 
Jesus came into the world." " Lo, I come to 
do thy will, O God." "He w^as anointed with 
the Holy Ghost and with power." 

3. In like manner the miracles of Christ are 
ascribed : " The Father who dwelleth in me, 
He doeth the works." " The works that I do 
in my Father's name they bear witness of me." 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 39 

The Lord Christ ascribed his mighty works to 
the "Spirit of God;" and when the Pharisees 
ascribed his miracles to the evil one, He 
charged upon them the unpardonable sin of 
"blasphemy against the Holy Ghost." 

4. The sacrificial death of Christ is ascribed 
to the Triune Godhead thus: "The Father 
sent the Son the (LW^o?) mercy offering con- 
cerning our sins," " He appeared to put away 
sin by the sacrifice of himself." Christ 
" through the eternal Spirit offered Himself 
without spot to God." And, while anticipat- 
ing his own voluntary death, He said, " There- 
fore doth my Father love me, because I lay 
down my life that I might take it again. No 
one taketh it from me, but I lay it down of 
myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I 
have authority to take it again. This com- 
mandment have I received of my Father." 

5. The resurrection of the Christ is similarly 
ascribed: "God raised Him from the dead." 
" Christ was raised up from among the dead by 
the glory of the Father." "Destroy this tem- 
ple, and in three days I will raise it up." 
"But he spake of the temple of his body." 



40 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

And thus the resurrection was intimated to be 
his own personal act. " He rose from among 
the dead." " Jesus was declared to be the Son 
of God with power according to the Spirit of 
Holiness (the Holy Spirit) through resurrection 
from among the dead." 

6. Kedemption, personal salvation, and the 
gift of eternal life, are ascribed to the Triune 
God. 

a. The origin, design, and manner of this 
gracious work is ascribed to the love and mani- 
fold wisdom of God the Father. Hence it is 
said to have been designed " according to the 
good pleasure of His will." " According to 
His own purpose and grace which was given 
us in Christ Jesus before the world began." 
" Behold what manner of love the Father hath 
bestowed on us, that we should be called the 
sons of God." " This is the record, that God 
hath given us eternal life, and this life is in 
His Son." 

b. The elaboration of the eternal counsel of 
the Father is shown to be the work assigned 
to the Son, and to have been undertaken and 
effectuated by Him. He said, " I came down 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 41 

from heaven not to do mine own will, but the 
will of Him w T ho sent me." " The Lord Christ 
died by his own pure volition, in obedience to 
the Father's will ; and by his voluntary death 
He made the Atonement, having thus put 
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." And to 
the Father He said, " I have glorified thee on 
the earth: I have finished the work thou 
gavest me to do." On the cross he cried, " It 
is finished." The fundamental work of re- 
demption and personal salvation was accom- 
plished by the Son of God. Hence it had been 
said concerning Him, " Thou shalt call His 
name Jesus : for He shall save His people 
from their sins." And concerning his people 
He himself had said, " I give unto them eter- 
nal life, and they shall never perish, neither 
shall any one pluck them out of my hand." 

c. The consummation of the " purpose and 
grace" of God the Father is ascribed to the 
Holy Spirit, whose special work is founded on 
the finished work of the risen Son. The ac- 
tual regeneration whereby men become chil- 
dren of God is the work of " the Spirit." And 
the indwelling presence and power of the Holy 

4 



42 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

Spirit in the children of God enables them to 
apprehend the paternal relation of God to 
themselves, and with spiritual intelligence to 
cry " Abba Father." And by the Holy Spirit 
their moral and spiritual sanctification is ef- 
fected. And by Him shall they hereafter be 
endued with immortality : as it is written, " If 
the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from 
among the dead dwell in you, he who raised 
up the Christ from among the dead will also 
quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that 
dwelleth in you." 

The preceding particulars will suffice to show 
that in the teaching of Holy Scripture the work 
of salvation and the gift of eternal life are as- 
cribed, alike and equally, to the love of the 
Three Persons in the Godhead. 

And further, Holy Scripture teaches that, 
while the distinctive parts of the work of grace 
and salvation are ascribed, severally, to the 
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, 
the entire work — in the past, the present, and 
the future — is the work of the one God, the 
Three Divine Persons existing in essential and 
indivisible Unity, and acting always in perfect 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 43 

union and co-operation. And of this divine 
mystery the solar light, in its co-operative 
economy, is the proper emblem and illustra- 
tion. 

The constituent principles of the solar light 
are ascertained, although their essential rela- 
tions in the constitution of the light are in- 
scrutable. These constituents are known to be 
the actinic, the luminiferous, and the calorific — a 
trinity in unity. The blue color (in the rain- 
bow and solar spectrum) being the sign of the 
first, the yellow of the second, and the red of 
the third. And it is in the co-operative econ- 
omy of the light that this order of the first, the 
second, and the third, is made known and is 
observed. And seeing that it is in the natural 
history of vegetation that the effects of this co- 
operative economy are more readily observed 
than in that of animal life, we select that de- 
partment of nature for descriptive remark.* 

* The relations of the solar light to the normal develop- 
ment of animal life, from embryo to maturity, have been so 
fully treated of in works on human physiology, that persons 
who are conversant with the subject may find an interesting 
mental exercise in considering the co-operative economy of 
the light in connection with zoological truth. 



44 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

1. Origination is the especial function of the 
actinic constituent. By means of its occult 
and artistic potency the germination of seeds 
is caused, and the embryo buds of foliage and 
of flowers are originated and formed. It has 
also a secret and sustaining work in the centres 
and roots of vegetation. The autumn and 
early spring witness its more active influence 
and effects, but in the winter season it is not 
inactive, and in that season its presence abun- 
dantly prevails. And that this constituent of 
the light may be properly regarded as artistic, 
or the means and occasion of artistic designs, 
is shown by the effects of its inscrutable en- 
ergy in the case of mere matter, apart from the 
life principle, which it subserves in animated 
nature. A pleasing example of this is seen in 
the " frost on the window," and in the delicate 
tracery that sometimes, in the season of frost, 
adorns the finer sprays of the trees and shrubs. 
And Professor TyndalPs description of a 
shower of snow-flakes seen by him on Mount 
Rosa (and which he calls "frozen flowers") 
affords an example of exceeding interest. He 
says: " The fall of snow was in fact a shower 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 45 

of frozen flowers. All of them were six-leaved ; 
some leaves threw out lateral ribs like ferns, 
some were rounded, others arrowy and serrated, 
some were close, others reticulated, but there 
was no deviation from the six-leaved type." 
And this was especially the work of the actin- 
ism of the light. 

2. Elaboration, or the working out of a de- 
sign unto a predetermined end, is the especial 
office or function of the luminiferous constitu- 
ent of the light. It receives (so to speak) its 
especial work from the actinism, and that work 
it carries on till plants and shrubs and trees are 
adorned with expanded blossoms, and the fun- 
damental forms of the various fruits are devel- 
oped and confirmed. In the spring and the 
early part of summer this principle of the light 
has more particularly its season of work, and 
then it manifestly prevails. 

3. Consummation is more especially the office 
and work of the calorific constituent of the 
light. The finished work of the luminiferous 
is (so to say) the basis on which the calorific 
operates to bring to maturity the various fruits 
of the earth, and thus effectuate the consum- 



46 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

mation of the divine purpose and plan in the 
provision made for the enjoyment of man. In 
the height of summer this constituent is felt to 
prevail. 

But here it must be borne in mind that in 
each of the successive operations and effects of 
the light above described the three constituents 
are actively concerned. In its more especial 
office or function the actinic is not without the 
luminiferous and calorific; neither is the lumi- 
niferous without the actinic and calorific; nor 
is the calorific without the luminiferous and 
actinic. These being homogeneous, and essen- 
tially one in the unity of the light, they act to- 
gether in oneness of nature and in unison of 
operation unto one and the same end. While 
the one is specially and prominently in opera- 
tion the other two act on behalf of the one, 
the several functions and all the operations and 
effects being those of the light. And that, 
which has now been shown concerning the 
light, is emblematic of the co-operation of the 
Three Divine Persons in the Unity of God ; 
for the creation of all things the institution and 
maintenance of moral government, and for the 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 47 

greater work of redemption and the gift of 
eternal life. 

But further, the order observable in the co- 
operative economy of the light serves to bring 
under notice the revealed relations in the God- 
head assumed by the Son towards the Father, 
and by the Holy Spirit towards the Father and 
the Son, and to which relations certain official 
titles or descriptive terms pertain. 

a. The title " Son of God"* does not indi- 
cate a subordinate relation nor a derivation of 
being, but is used adjectively in accordance 
with a Hebrew idiom, according to which the 
term "Son" is used as a descriptive term or 
word of quality ; for example, in such phrases 
as " Sons of the east," " Son of the morning," 

* "Son of God,' ; and " Son of man." The Lord Jesus 
is confessed thus: " Perfect God and perfect Man; of a 
reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting ; equal to the 
Father as touching his Godhead, and inferior to the Father 
as touching his Manhood. Who, although he be God and 
Man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; One, not by con- 
version of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the 
Manhood into God ; One altogether, not by confusion of 
Substance, but by unity of Person." And to this confes- 
sion of Him we say, Amen, and Amen. 



48 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

" Son of oil," " Son of wickedness," u Sons of 
wisdom," " Sons of light," and " Sons of men," 
&c. And the Chaldee phrase used by Nebu- 
chadnezzar to describe the fourth person whom 
he saw walking in the midst of the fire, and 
which is translated " Son of G-od," was used 
by the King of Babylon to mean a divine 
being, a God. And the phrase " Son of man," 
by which our Lord commonly spoke of him- 
self, was meant by Him to denote the fact that 
He was real man ; and when he said, " I am 
the Son of God" he declared Himself to be 
true God; and this the Jews understood him to 
affirm, even as when, on another occasion, He 
said, " I and the Father are one." And be- 
cause of the repeated declaration of His essen- 
tial personal Deity they repeatedly accused 
Him of blasphemy, and gave their reason thus : 
" Because that thou being man makest thyself 
God." And the same accusation they urged 
against Him before Pontius Pilate, saying, 
a We have a law, and by our law he ought to 
die, because he made himself the Son of G-od." 
And in this judicial accusation the idiomatic 
meaning and force of the phrase " Son of God" 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 49 

was fully present to their minds. They under- 
stood, clearly and correctly, that in the use of 
that phrase Jesus claimed to be Himself essen- 
tial God. 

6. In the English version, the phrase "only 
begotten " or "only begotten Son" stands as 
one of the titles of the Lord Christ. But in 
the original Hebrew the phrase is idiomatic, 
and is not used to denote generation or derivation of 
personal being, but it is a term of estimation, and 
is used to signify that the person to whom it is 
applied is the object of intense and concen- 
trated love, complacency, and confidence. In 
this idiomatic and well-understood meaning 
Isaac was Abraham's "only begotten." 

The Hebrew term yah-'gheed' is an adjective, 
a word of quality, and is used to denote an 
object of love, esteem, and delight. In the 
Greek of the Christian Scriptures this Hebrew 
term is represented by the term fiovoyevTjs, which, 
taken literally and apart from established usage, 
means " only begotten," but it is used by the 
inspired writers to signify a Hebrew idea, and 
in usage it has the same meaning and force as 
the Hebrew term which it represents. 



50 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

From the Hebrew we read that God said to 
Abraham, " Take now thy son Isaac, thine 
only whom thou lovest," &c. And from the 
Greek we read that he who had received the 
promises offered up his " only begotten " (his 
jAovoyevyj), his darling or only one; for by these 
words the term yah- c gheed' is translated in the 
Book of Psalms.* 

The title under review, as relating to the 
Lord Jesus, is intended to teach that in the 
eternal counsel and revealed relations and co- 
operative economy of the Godhead He, the 
Son, is the one only object of the Father's infi- 
nite love, complacency, and confidence that in 
Him, the eternal counsel, is centred; and that 
on the foundation of His finished work it will 
be consummated. Jesus, the Son of God, is 
the Father's yah-'gheed', or only, who is in the 
bosom of the Father, " and by whom alone the 
Father is made known." 

* In the Septuagint (Gen. 22 : 2) the Hebrew term yah- 
'GHEEd' is represented by top ayairr}7dv } the beloved; and in 
the Psalms (22:20; 35:17) that term is represented by 
novoyevm ; and thus these two Greek words are regarded as 
being of an equivalent significance and force. 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 51 

c. The title of " First-born " is also applied 
to the Son of God, as it is said : " The first- 
born of every creation." " The first-born from 
among the dead." " The first-born amowg 
many brethren." This title " First-born" in 
Greek (xpujTOToxix;) is the representative of a He- 
brew term which is used to denote priority, 
precedence, and pre-eminence, and hence is a 
term of prerogative ; and for this reason it is re- 
peatedly translated " birthright." And the 
title and rights of primogeniture were observed 
among the Hebrews, and might be conferred 
by the father of a family according to his own 
will. This took place in the family of Jacob. 
Joseph, the eleventh son in the order of birth, 
was, by his father, constituted the First-born. 
Hence it is written, " The birthright was Jo- 
seph's." And the Son of God, Jesus Christ, 
by the will of God the Father is the " First- 
born of every creation;" "for by Him were all 
things created." He is the Head over all cre- 
ated things. And He is " the First-born from 
among the dead," because that by Him comes 
the resurrection of the dead, especially " the 
resurrection of life." He is the appointed 



52 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

Head of the raised family of God. And when 
that redeemed and regenerate family shall have 
been raised in immortality, incorruptibility, 
and glory, and are thus conformed to His like- 
ness, then, in the view of angels, principalities, 
and powers, He will gloriously preside over the 
family of immortals, " the First-born among 
many brethren." 

d. " The beginning of the creation of God." 
This title the Son of God has appropriated to 
Himself. The chief term Apx*} here translated 
"beginning" denotes precedence, authority, 
and power in the connection in which it stands. 
The plural term, o.px a ^ denotes terrestrial rulers 
and magistrates, and is also used to denote ce- 
lestial chiefs subordinate and subject to the 
Lord Jesus, of whom it is said that He is " far 
above all principality, «/>/?£, and power, and 
might, and dominion, and every name that is 
named, not only in this age, but also in that 
which is to come." And this supreme title is 
His, as the risen and glorified Son of God and 
Son of man, and denotes His universal su- 
premacy and power in glorified manhood, at 
the right hand of the throne of God. 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 53 

And how concerning the Holy Spirit and His 
mission to the earth, as on the day of Pente- 
cost, He is said to have been sent by the Fa- 
ther, in the name of the Son, and also to have 
been sent by the Son, as he Himself had been 
previously sent by the Father. And respect- 
ing his own mission from the Father He said, 
" I proceeded forth and came from God/' 
And respecting the mission of the Holy Spirit 
(and in that respect only) it is the truth, that 
He proceeded from the Father and the Son. 
And the official subordination into which the 
Holy Spirit came towards the Father and the 
Son is intimated in the words of the Lord 
Christ to his Apostles when He said, "When 
He, the Spirit of Truth, is come He will guide 
you into all the truth ; for He shall not speak 
from Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear 
that shall He speak ; and He will show you 
things to come. He shall glorify me, for He 
shall receive of mine and show it unto you. 
All things that the Father hath are mine : 
therefore said I that He shall receive of mine 
and show it unto you."* 

* The personal Deity of Holy Spirit is signified in vari- 
ous ways besides those which have been already noticed. 



54 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

The preceding particulars will suffice to show 
that the official titles and subordinate relations 
of the Son of God to the Father, and of the 
Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son, arise 
out of the provisions of the eternal counsel, 
and pertain to the co-operative economy of the 
Triune Godhead; and of all this the proper 
emblem and illustration is the co-operative 
economy of the solar light. 

Third Section. 

THE MANIFESTTVE OR LUMINIFEROUS CONSTITUENT OF 

THE SOLAR FORCE IS ESPECIALLY THE EMBLEM 

OF THE SON OF GOD. 

"God is light." In this emblematic state- 
ment the entirety of God is included. The 
Father is light, the Son is light, and the Holy 
Spirit is light, but in manifestive relation and 

For example, the Apostle Peter said to Ananias: "Why 
hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost ?" . . . 
"Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." And the 
Apostle Paul having described the various and diverse gifts 
bestowed on the churches says, " But all these worketh that 
one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to each severally as 
He will." 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 55 

office the Son is the light; and when among 
men he said, " As long as I am in the world I 
am the light of the world." And in the na- 
ture and constitutional unity of the solar 
force the actinic constituent is light, the lumi- 
niferous is light, the calorific is light, but in 
manifestive relation and office the luminiferous 
is the light, and by it the solar force itself is 
manifested to the sense of sight, and natural 
objects are made manifest. 

The calorific constituent is not seen, but is 
felt. And the potency of this active principle 
is indicated when it is said of the sun, " There 
is nothing hid from the heat thereof." 

But the actinic constituent of the light is 
neither seen nor felt ; neither does it give out 
any sensible proof of its presence while pro- 
ducing most marvellous effects. Even its 
name, actinism, does not afford any information, 
not even an idea, proper to that to which it is 
applied; for it is formed on the Greek word 
axrtv (actin), which means a ray. 

And that which, in these respects, is true 
concerning the light, affords an illustration of 
much that is true concerning God. 



56 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

1. Every manifestation of Deity made to the 
senses of men, from the beginning of the 
world, was made in and by the Eternal Word, 
the Son of God. For instance, He appeared 
to Abraham under the form of a wayfaring 
man, and conversed with him, and gave him 
" exceeding great and precious promises," and 
made himself known to that patriarch by the 
name " The Almighty God." And when in 
due time he had become man He spoke of the 
joy of Abraham which had arisen from ac- 
quaintance with Himself, saying to the Jews, 
" Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, 
and he saw it and was glad." This retrospec- 
tive and historic statement was well understood 
by the Jews, and they objected, saying, " Thou 
art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen 
Abraham ?" And he answered them thus : 
" Amen, Amen, I say unto you, before Abra- 
ham was I AM." 

He wrestled with the wayward patriarch 
Jacob under the form of a strange man, and 
sent him away with the true conviction that he 
had " seen God face to face," and yet his life 
was preserved. He appeared to Moses in flam- 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 57 

ing fire, and spoke to him " out of the midst 
of the bush." And ou that occasion He an- 
nounced himself " The God of Abraham, the 
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And 
to Moses He announced Himself by the name 
y'-hoh-vah' (Jehovah), which means " He who 
will be or will become." And then for the first 
time He made Himself known by this divine 
appellation, and thus gave an intimation that 
He was the coming one who in due time should 
appear as man — true God and real man in one 
person. 

During Israel's migrations from the land of 
Egypt to the land of promise He presided over 
the tribes in his chariot of cloud and of light ; 
and in the Shekinal glory He dwelt between 
the cherubim, on the mercy-seat, in the most 
holy place of the tabernacle. And centuries 
afterwards Isaiah beheld His glory and spoke 
of Him. In the records of his vision Isaiah 
says, " I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne 
high and lifted up, and the train thereof filled 
the temple. Above it stood the seraphim; 
each one had six wings ; with twain he covered 
his face, and with twain he covered his feet, 

5 



58 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

and with twain he did fly. And one cried to 
another, and said, " Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah 
of Hosts : His glory is the fulness of the whole 
earth/' And having described his vision the 
prophet records the commission he then re- 
ceived, to foretell the inveterate unbelief and 
obduracy of the nation. And while recording 
the fulfilment of this prediction in the rejec- 
tion of Jesus the Christ the Apostle John adds 
this statement : " These things said Esaias 
when he saw His glory and spake of Him." 
And the Apostle Paul alludes to the Divine 
Glory, the glorious form, in which he had an- 
ciently appeared, and says of Him, "Who 
being in the form of God thought it not rob- 
bery to be equal with God ; but made himself 
of no reputation, and took upon Him the form 
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of 
men." 

That the manifestations of Deity to the 
senses of men were made in and by the person 
of the Son is indicated when it is said concern- 
ing the Father, that " no man hath seen God 
at any time." And the Lord Jesus himself in- 
timated the same when He said to the nation 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 59 

of the Jews concerning the Father, " Ye have 
neither heard His voice at any time nor seen 
His shape."* These words of our Lord are in 
unquestionable harmony with the records of 
his baptism and his transfiguration, in which it 
is mentioned that a voice out of the heavens 
said, " This is my Son, the Beloved," &c. ; for 
it was not the personal voice of God the Father 
that was then heard. Moreover, when the law 
w T as given on Sinai the first words were these : 
" I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out 
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bond- 
age." But the law is called "the word 
spoken by angels," and to the nation it was 
subsequently said, " Ye have received the law 
by the disposition (intervention) of angels." 
The origin and authority of the law, and also 
of the utterances over the Jordan, and the 
mount of transfiguration were of God. But 
the personal voice of God the Father has never 
been heard, neither has He been seen. 

2. The spiritual revelation of the Deity made 

* Of God the Father it is written thus : "Whom no man 
hath seen nor can see." And His proper title is, " The in- 
visible God." 



60 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

to the minds of men has been and is made in 
and by the Son. 

In this respect, the sun itself considered as a 
luminary, is the proper emblem of the Christ, 
one of whose titles is " The Son of righteous- 
ness:" and of Him it is written that He was 
here among men, " God manifested in flesh," 
the moral manifestation of " the invisible 
God." And it is said of Him in glorified man- 
hood that, " in Him dwelleth all the fulness of 
the Godhead bodily." And in the same apos- 
tolic teaching we read that " God, who com- 
manded the light to shine out of darkness, is 
He who hath shined in our hearts, to give the 
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in 
the face of Jesus Christ." And turning again 
to his own personal teaching we hear Him say, 
"No one knoweth the Son but the Father; 
neither knoweth any one the Father except the 
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal 
Him." And when He said to Philip, " He that 
hath seen me hath seen the Father," He an- 
nounced the truth that in Himself, and only in 
Him, is God the Father revealed, or can be in- 
telligibly known. "We see God, mentally and 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 61 

spiritually in the Person of the Son. We feel 
God, in the way of spiritual experience, in the 
Person, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
We implicitly wonder and adore while we 
make confession of God in the Person of the 
Father. And in Christian and spiritual wor- 
ship, whether the particular act of worship be 
presented orally to the Father, or to the Son, 
or to the Holy Spirit, we know and adore the 
eternal Godhead : " We worship one God in 
Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither con- 
founding the Persons nor dividing the Sub- 
stance." 

" Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the begin- 
ning, is now, and ever shall be, world without 
end. Amen." 



SECOND PART. 



PRELIMINARIES. 

The triune constitution, the co-operative 
economy, and the manifestive constituent of 
the solar light have now been considered in 
their emblematic relations to the Tri-personal 
Godhead — to the co-operation of the Father, 
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit in creation, 
moral government, and redemption, and to the 
fact that Deity is revealed and rendered intel- 
ligible to human perception and understanding 
only in and by the Person and ways of the Son, 
who is Jesus the Christ. 

The evidences of the Divine Existence are 
manifest to the natural reason of man, as it is 
written : " The invisible things of Him from 
the creation of the world are clearly seen, 
being understood by the things that are made, 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 63 

even His eternal power and Godhead/' And 
the demonstration of the existence and power 
of the Deity, which is thus alleged, includes a 
variety of particulars, viz. : the evidences and 
elements of mathematical reason ; the practical 
elements of geometry; the adjustments and 
powers of mechanical contrivance ; the princi- 
ples and laws of architectural structure; the 
original examples of modelling and sculpture ; 
and an exceeding variety of artistic designs in 
picturesque forms and colors; and besides 
these are observable the marvellous principles, 
powers, and processes of inanimate and ani- 
mate procreation, and the sustained economy 
of Nature, providing for the necessities and 
welfare of man. 

By this aggregate of evidence the Existence, 
intelligence, power, and benevolence of the 
Deity are demonstrated to the rational observa- 
tion and logical mind of man. But, in order 
to the highest welfare of which he is capable, 
man needs to know more concerning God than 
can possibly be learned by the observation of 
Nature and the most diligent research. Hence 
the challenge to the wisdom of this world in 



64 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

these words : " Canst thou by searching find 
out God ? Canst thou find out the Almighty 
to perfection ?" And in the quaint but forcible 
words of an unlettered, clear-minded Chris- 
tian man, it may here be remarked that " God 
only can tell us about Himself." 

The Holy Scriptures are the only revelation 
which the Deity has vouchsafed to men ; and 
therein only can we be truly informed concern- 
ing God. And the Divine person presented 
therein to mental perception and faith, is He 
who is the " Redeemer, King, and Holy One of 
Israel;" and in the Christian revelation, He is 
shown to have been " God manifested in flesh," 
the Son of God in whom the Father was seen ; 
the manifestation in human nature of the dis- 
positions and perfections of the Tri-personal 
God. 

And the attributes and dispositions of the 
Godhead have their proper emblems in the 
inherent colors of the solar light ; which colors 
are seen in the rainbow and in the solar spec- 
trum, being thus both naturally and artificially 
revealed. 

The revealed colors of the light were used 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 65 

by all primitive peoples, to symbolize ideas of 
mental and moral attributes or qualities, and 
thus became rudiments of their several systems 
of hieroglyphics. The pencil, as well as the 
chisel, was used to represent the metaphysical 
conceptions of those earlier inhabitants of the 
earth. Indeed, the pencil would seem to have 
preceded the chisel; picture writing in colors 
was before graven or sculptured forms; and 
then, the colors became the complement of the 
forms. 

And our ultimate purpose is to show that the 
emblematic use of colors was sanctioned by the 
spirit of inspiration, and that the colors inhe- 
rent in the light and revealed in the rainbow, 
are emblematic of the perfections of the God- 
head. But in the first place the received 
theory of colors must be reviewed and the true 
philosophy of colors must be submitted. 



66 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 



First Section. 

THE SOLAR LIGHT IS THE CAUSE OF COLOR IN NATURAL 
OBJECTS. 

The colors inherent in the solar light, and 
revealed in the rainbow and by means of the 
prism, in the solar spectrum, are familiarly 
known. The three primaries — the blue, the 
yellow, and the red — are the signs of the three 
constituents of the light; and the four seconda- 
ries — the purple, the indigo, the green, and the 
orange — are the signs of the official or func- 
tional relations of the light, as considered in its 
co-operative economy and executive history. 
And in virtue of the natural and inscrutable 
union of these seven colors, the earth is illu- 
mined by the effulgence of non-chromatic 
light. 

1. The proposition that, "the solar light is 
the cause of color in natural objects," requires 
that we review the generally received theory 
on this subject, as it is presented by those who 
advocate the "undulatory theory" of light 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 67 

In his treatise on " Spectrum Analysis," Dr. 
Schellen says, " Besides the colors in the spec- 
trum, which are simple elements composing 
white light, there is another class of colors ap- 
parent in every substance, which are therefore 
known as the colors of natural objects." He 
notices the popular impression that the colors 
observed in natural objects are inherent in 
their substance, as being a false impression 
saying, " And yet this is not so." 

A series of phenomena is then described and 
used as arguments for the theory that color has 
no inherent presence in the objects of nature. 
It is alleged that dyed substances do not bear 
exactly the same shade of color in gaslight as 
in daylight: that the landscape, when viewed 
through colored glass, appears to be more or 
less of the color of the glass; and that objects, 
subjected to an artificially colored light — yel- 
low for instance — lose their brilliancy, or seem 
mere light and shade. And having mentioned 
these particulars, the writer says : " These 
facts clearly prove that colors are not inherent 
in objects, that they have no independent ex- 



68 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

istence, but that they are called forth by some 
extraneous cause." 

But this conclusion is not sustained by the 
phenomena described ; for the apparent colors 
of dyed substances when seen by gaslight, the 
apparent hue of the landscape when viewed 
through colored glass, and the seemingly faded 
hues of substances subjected to an artificial 
yellow light, are not the real and natural colors 
of the objects, but are merely apparent; and the 
occasion of this optical difference is chiefly the 
effect of the gaslight, and of the color in the 
glass, and of the yellow light on the retina and 
optic nerve, and the consequent influence on 
the mental impression received. 

And indeed, the learned writer whose words 
we have cited seems unwittingly to surrender, 
at least the outworks of the position previously 
assumed; for in the paragraph following, these 
words occur: "On the other hand, these con- 
siderations show that there must be something 
in the objects themselves to help in the forma- 
tion of color; for they in no way assume the 
color of the light illuminating them, but appear 
as a rule, of quite a different hue." And here, 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 69 

in view of the proposition that " solar light is 
the cause of color in natural objects," this 
question arises : What is that " something in 
the objects themselves to help in the formation 
of color?" Further, having observed that 
" the natural color of an object is that in which 
it appears when illuminated by the pure white 
light of the sun, or daylight," the learned doc- 
tor proceeds to elaborate the generally received 
theory of color in natural objects, by supposing 
a " luminiferous ether," and the influence 
which the surface of a body exercises on (sup- 
posed) " ether waves," and the different effects 
of this influence according to the nature of the 
coloring matter with which the object is pro- 
vided. And a sufficient reply to all which is 
in this manner advanced, is found in the 
words : "If there be an ether." 

The unsoundness of the Ether theory of 
color is evidenced by the erroneousness of the 
" Luminiferous Ether" theory of light, and 
also by its admitted need of extraneous and 
material aids, which it describes as " something 
in the objects themselves to help in the forma- 



70 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

tion of color/' and " the coloring matter* with 
which the object is provided." 

The so-called " coloring matter" is matter in 
which color and the cause of color are consti- 
tutionally present, and may be extracted and 
artificially imparted to other substances or ob- 
jects by the genius of the artist, and by the 
skill and labor of the dyer. And this fact will 
serve to show that the received theory of color 
in natural objects, when most ably and candidly 
advocated, is at variance with itself, and con- 
tradicts the proposition that " the solar light is 
the cause of color in the objects of nature," 
which proposition is admitted without contro- 
versy to have the force of a first principle or 
axiom in the science of optics, and in scientific 
schools. 

And as the received theory of color has now 

* The above admissions remind us of the phrase " Bot- 
tled-up sunshine." This phrase is attributed to that emi- 
nent engineer, George Stephenson, Esq., who is represented 
to have remarked that " Kailway locomotion is effected by 
bottled-up sunshine: 77 and this pleasant and profound re- 
mark receives a very pleasing illustration from the rich va- 
riety of aniline colors extracted by chemistry from coal-tar. 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 71 

been considered, as seen in philosophic attire, 
it must also be noticed as commonly shown in 
its scholastic and conventional dress, which is 
thus described : " A body appears of the color 
it reflects, as we see it only by the reflected 
rays. The grass is green because it absorbs all 
except the green. Flowers thus reflect the va- 
rious colors of which they appear to us. But 
these are not permanent colors of the grass 
and flowers ; for whenever colors are seen the 
objects are illuminated. Objects in the dark 
have no color, but they become colored as soon 
as made visible by the light." 

"In things that are false there is an element 
of truth." It is true that colored objects reflect 
light, and that only in the light can their colors 
be seen, and that colors are "not permanent" 
in grass and flowers, because these fade and 
die ; and it is philosophically true that colors 
are not essentially inherent in natural objects, 
for color is essentially inherent only in the 
light. But that, as a general rule, colors are 
constitutionally present in natural objects can- 
not be disproved ; roots and fruits and precious 
stones will show the truth of this. For exam- 



72 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

pie, the carrot and beet root are colored in the 
earth ; the melon and the pomegranate are col- 
ored within the rind; and the amethyst and 
emerald are colored while within the mine. 
No sane man would undertake to disprove this. 
And common sense, by which is meant here 
the enlightened observation and unsophisti- 
cated judgment of mankind, is not to be dis- 
regarded because certain learned men merely 
affirm; and therefore, in the name of com- 
mon sense, it is demanded of those " profess- 
ing themselves to be wise," thus : Is that lady's 
purple dress colorless the moment it is in the 
dark, and is the Syrian hue, with which it was 
dyed, renewed the moment it is again in the 
light? Is her gold-colored canary bird color- 
less in the dark and gold colored again the in- 
stant it is in the light ? Are her own blue eyes 
without any color during the night season, and 
is their azure hue renewed the moment she 
opens her eyelids to admit the morning light ? 
Is the recently culled bouquet that delighted 
her sense of the beautiful, is that colorless the 
moment the light is withdrawn, and are its 
lovely hues renewed the instant that the light 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 73 

is let in on its floral forms ? And are the pre- 
cious stones in her jewelry, — say the emerald, 
ruby, and sapphire, — are they destitute of color 
the moment they are inclosed in the jewel-case, 
and are their several colors restored the mo- 
ment that the casket is opened ? But enough, 
and more than enough, to suggest that even 
absurdity is involved in the generally received 
theory of color in the various objects of na- 
ture. 

- 2. In accordance with the acknowledged 
principle that " the solar light is the cause of 
color in natural objects," and the undeniable 
fact that color has a constitutional presence in 
the colored objects of nature, it is most highly 
probable that the colors observable in the ma- 
terial, inanimate and animate creation, are em- 
bodiments or appropriated conditions of the 
solar force called " light." 

The idea thus presented would seem to be 
intimated in the assuring words of the Divine 
Saviour to his disciples, when He said, " Con- 
sider the lilies of the field how they grow; 
they toil not, neither do they spin ; and yet I 
say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory 

6 



74 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, 
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which 
to-day is and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
shall he not much more clothe you, ye of 
little faith ?" 

a. The considerations enforcing this exhorta- 
tion to a manly trust in God may be understood 
and felt by a child; and a mature and reflec- 
tive mind may perceive that principles of philo- 
sophic wisdom are contained therein. Thus, 
for instance, the glories of Solomon here men-, 
tioned consisted of the insignia of his majesty 
and might ; and those garments of glory were 
but the artificial covering of the man. But the 
gorgeous glories of the oriental lilies were con- 
stitutionally present in their floral forms; in- 
wrought, in the vital substance of their petals, 
by the will and working of the living God. 
And seeing that, in sustaining the processes of 
his creation, the Creator acts by means of the 
forces which in "the beginning" He created; 
and seeing that the solar light is the acknowl- 
edged cause of color in natural objects, we are 
thus led to the conclusion that " God has so 
clothed the grass of the field" by embodying 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 75 

the substance, and thus the inherent colors, of 
the solar force called " light," in the various 
forms of floral loveliness that adorn the face of 
the earth. 

b. It is well known that the life principle of 
vegetation — flowering plants for example — is 
endowed by the Creator with the capability of 
appropriating matter for the organization of 
its several forms, and of selecting such elemen- 
tal principles of matter, and in such propor- 
tions, as are proper to each kind, and of ar- 
ranging and combining the molecules in the 
manner proper to each, in accordance with the 
divine order denoted in the words, " To every 
seed its own body." And to this end that life- 
principle has the capability of appropriating 
the forces or " unity of force" provided by 
the Creator; and which pervades all nature 
under the names of chemical affinity, magnet- 
ism, electricity, and light, in which force color 
essentially inheres ; and while using this pro- 
vided force for its organic development and 
manifestation the life-principle appropriates 
such of the colors inherent therein as are 
proper to each kind or species; and thus it 



76 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

would appear the various hues of floral loveli- 
ness are constitutionally present in, for exam- 
ple, the " lilies of the field/' 

c. In the former part of this essay it was 
remarked, that each of the three constituents 
in the solar light is prevalently present at that 
season of the year to which its more prominent 
activity may be ascribed. That is to say, the 
luminiferous constituent — indicated in the solar 
spectrum by the yellow color — prevails in the 
springtime of the year; and it is observable 
that during that season flowers of a yellow hue 
are most prevalent, from the pale primrose 
onwards, with increasing depth and richness 
of color, to the richest of golden glory. There 
are of course in this season, various flowers of 
blue and lilac and purple, and pink and ruby 
red, &c, because of the unity of the light and 
its co-operation. 

And during the summer season, the calorific 
constituent, whose sign in the solar spectrum 
is the red color, is prevalently present and 
active ; and about midsummer and towards the 
autumn, flowers of the scarlet and crimson 
hue, and other shades of red, are abundantly 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 77 

brought forth. There are of course at that 
season, flowers of other hues, from light yellow 
to orange, and from azure to dark blue and 
purple, &c, and this is the case, from the cause 
of varieties of hue in the flowers of the spring 
and early summer; as previously shown. 

d. That which has now been noticed as true 
concerning the life principle of vegetation, 
is also and equally true in relation to the 
life-principle of animate nature; or in other 
words, the principle of animal life, in all its 
orders and degrees of rank, is endowed by the 
Creator with the capability of appropriating 
both the molecular matter and the requisite 
force, for its embryo embodiment and continu- 
ous growth, and the completeness of organ- 
ized being. And the force which is thus ap- 
propriated is a part of that " unity of power," 
called magnetism, electricity, and light ; and 
all color being inherent therein and derived 
therefrom, it is apparent that the colors ob- 
servable in the various forms of animate nature 
are and have been appropriated by the princi- 
ple of animal life, in the necessary appropria- 
tion of constitutional power. 



78 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

And further : It is well known that in tropi- 
cal regions — where the light is more abun- 
dantly present, and flows down more directly in 
all the riches of its inherent excellence and 
glory, the colors of the objects of nature are 
intensely vivid; the petals of the flowers, the 
plumage of the birds, and the enamelled shells 
of certain mollusca are exceedingly gorgeous 
and glorious ; " even Solomon in all his glory 
was not arrayed like one of them." And on 
the contrary, in the polar regions, where the 
quantity and power of the solar light is very 
limited, the natural objects are much less 
colored than even in the temperate zones, the 
tendency being to less and less. 

3. It has been previously remarked that the 
actinic constituent of the light, the sign of 
which is the blue color, is most prevalent in the 
winter season. And it must here be observed, 
that this active principle in the unity of force 
is most abundant in presence and power in 
the Arctic regions, and on the snow-crowned 
heights of the earth; as, for instance, on the 
Alps. 

The calorific principle, whose sign is the red 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 79 

color, is the great solvent in nature. But the 
actinic principle is the great consolidant in 
nature; and its more abundant presence and 
prevailing power are intimated by the preva- 
lence of its proper sign, the blue, the bright, the 
beautiful blue. 

a. Professor Tyndall in his work on " The 
Glaciers of the Alps," frequently mentions 
with admiration, the beautiful blue color of ice, 
and observable in the snow. In his description 
of a " crystal cave," he says : " The entrance to 
the vault was formed of an arch of ice, which 
had detached itself from the general mass of 
glacier behind ; between them was a space 
through which we could look at the sky above. 
Beyond this the cave narrowed and we found 
ourselves steeped in the blue light of the ice. 
To me this crystal cave, with the blue glisten- 
ing from its walls, presented an aspect of magic 
beauty." 

And in the section on " The Tyrol" he re- 
marks on the blue color observable in the 
snow, thus : " Near the snow-line the partial 
melting of the snow had rendered it coarsely 
granular, but as we ascended it became finer 



80 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

and the light emitted from its cracks and 
cavities was a pure deep blue. When a staff 
was driven into the snow low down the moun- 
tain, the color of the light in the orifice was 
scarcely sensibly blue, but higher up this in- 
creased in a wonderful degree, and at the sum- 
mit the effect was marvellous. I struck my 
staff into the snow and turned it round and 
round, the surrounding snow cracked repeat- 
edly and flashes of blue light issued from the 
fissures. The fragments of snow that adhered 
to the staff* were by contrast of a beautiful 
pinky yellow, so that, on moving the staff with 
the fragments attached to it, up and down, 
it was difficult to resist the impression that a 
pink flame was ascending and descending in 
the hole." 

The facts thus noticed by the learned Profes- 
sor illustrate the truth that the actinic constitu- 
ent of the light — with its sign, " the beautiful 
blue " — is prevalent in the more elevated re- 
gions, and the pinky yellow color evolved in 
subordination to the blue is significant of the 
fact that light is a homogeneous unity, and that 
its constituents operate together, the two being 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 81 

at all times and in all cases subordinate to the 
one. 

6. The abundant presence and power of the 
artistic and crystallizing force in the frozen re- 
gions, in association with the prevalence of the 
" beautiful blue/' the sign of the actinic princi- 
ple of the light, and the remarkable crystalliza- 
tions that are formed there — the crystal cave, 
" with the blue glistening from its walls/ 5 and 
the " fall of snow, which was in fact a shower 
of frozen flowers " — these serve to bring the ac- 
tinic principle to mind, and also to suggest the 
thought that this constituent of the light is 
identical with magnetism in the unity of force ; 
for it is well known that magnetism is preva- 
lent both in the more northern regions, and on 
the Alpine summits of the earth, and is more 
especially the crystallizing force. And Profes- 
sor Tyndall has mentioned the prevailing pres- 
ence and power of magnetism in the region of 
the Alps, and has expressed his admiration of 
the " magnificent blue" — "sometimes inclin- 
ing to purple " — that canopies the scene of the 
glaciers of the Alps. 

c. An additional intimation of the homoge- 



82 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

neousness of electricity and magnetism with 
the solar light is observable in the crystalliza- 
tions that are found within the crust of the 
earth. Within that crust are formed all man- 
ner of precious stones. One of these is dis- 
tinguished by non-chromatic brilliancy; and in 
the others severally, all the colors in the solar 
spectrum (and also many combinations of these) 
display their various hues of abiding brilliancy, 
in response to the brightness and glory of their 
origin, — the Solar Light. 

Second Section. 

COLORS HAVE A HIEROGLYPHIC HISTORY. 

It has already been mentioned that the 
colors inherent in the light, and revealed to us 
in the rainbow and the solar spectrum, " were 
used by all primitive peoples, to symbolize 
ideas of mental and moral attributes or quali- 
ties, and thus became rudiments in their seve- 
ral systems of hieroglyphics." And this em- 
blematic use of colors obtains throughout the 
Orient to the present day ; and this fact is so 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 83 

observable that one who has travelled in the 
East, has said, " The key-note to orientalism is 
color." 

Of those ancient nations in whose symbolic 
systems colors had a prominent place, mention 
should be made of the Assyrians and Egyp- 
tians, the Phoenicians and Hebrews, and the 
Babylonians and Medo-Persians ; and from the 
Phoenicians and Medo-Persians this chromatic 
custom may have descended to the Grecians, 
from whom it was derived by the Romans and 
other peoples whose ancestors had migrated 
towards the west. Or the custom may have 
descended by tradition among the tribes scat- 
tered abroad upon the face of the earth; as 
having its origin in some one primeval source. 
And it is an interesting fact that among the 
North American Indians, the same or similar 
meanings are ascribed to the prismatic colors 
that were ascribed by the ancient Assyrians, 
Egyptians and Hebrews. 

To the minds of those ancient peoples, each 
natural color had a definite, emblematic mean- 
ing. For example : the Blue, signified be- 
nignity, clemency, &c. ; the Yellow, manifestive 



84 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

and appreciable excellence or glory; the Red, 
moral dignity and physical power; the Purple, 
royalty and sovereign power; the Indigo, truth- 
fulness in the expression of benevolence; the 
Green, condescension, graceful and "bounteous 
condescension; and the*Orange or flame color, 
righteousness. 

It would appear that the " old masters " in 
the pictorial art, employed the several colors, 
generally in accordanee with the conceptions 
and usage of more ancient minds. And from 
the mediaeval times to the present day the same 
usage has obtained, and may be observed in 
the tinted glass and pictorial representations 
that adorn the windows of ecclesiastical edi- 
fices, and in the official vestments worn by ec- 
clesiastics in the hierarchies of Greece and 
Rome ; and also by modern imitators of those 
ancient and historic institutions. 

But whence the origin of this chromatic 
and emblematic custom ? It may have been 
originally derived from an intuition, divinely 
bestowed, at the dawn of the human intellect; 
and thus have been observed by the antedilu- 
vians, and have been preserved in theNoachian 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 85 

family, " familiar as household words." On 
this point, however, we have no certain infor- 
mation; and hence another question may arise: 
Are we at this time able to discern in historic 
intimations and the facts and phenomena of 
nature, a probable basis on which the con- 
ceptions and usage described may have beeu 
founded? In reply to this question the follow- 
ing particulars are named. 

1. The " blue signifies benignity/' and the 
blue canopy over the earth is well adapted to 
impress the human mind with thoughts of 
benignity, as presiding over the interests and 
welfare of the human race. The blue heavens 
beam benignity; for thence come down all 
genial influences and powers, causing fruitful 
seasons, and filling men's hearts with food and 
gladness. " It is true that men have to plough 
and sow, but the sunshine and rain do all the 
rest." And in the light of modern science, 
the significance assigned to the blue color will 
be most thoroughly approved. For blue is the 
sign of that benign property or force called 
" odic," and " ozone." And ozone, which is 
understood to be " electrized oxygen," is 



86 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

recognized in medical science, as being that 
property or power in the atmosphere, which 
is especially congenial to man, and is conserva- 
tive of health and constitutional life, by up- 
holding the animal economy in its integrity, 
and maintaining the vitality and chemical con- 
sistency of the blood. 

2. " The yellow is the emblem of manifestive 
excellence or glory/' 

This emblematic significance was associated 
in the minds of the ancients, with the precious- 
ness and resplendency of gold. They con- 
ceived an analogy between the effulgence of 
the sunshine and the resplendency of bur- 
nished gold. They admired the "glory of the 
sun," and owned his sovereign sway; and they 
adopted its representative, resplendent gold, 
to symbolize their conception of moral excel- 
lence or glory, even the glory of a god. In 
those ancient times men worshipped the sun 
and idols of gold. 

The Israelites had become familiar in Egypt 
with the worship of the sacred bull, the god 
Apis, and his image in gold ; and at the base 
of the Mount Sinai, they materialized their 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 87 

conceptions of a glorious deity in the form of 
a golden calf, and with joyous acclamations 
worshipped it as their god. 

And centuries afterwards, the King of Baby- 
lon, Nebuchadnezzar, set up an image of gold 
in the plain of Dura, as his idol god ; and 
commanded all peoples and nations within the 
sphere of his dominant sway, to fall down and 
worship his God of Gold. 

And further : The imperious power of gold 
over the imagination and hearts of men is an 
historical fact, not related merely to ancient 
and oriental peoples and tribes. 

In the empires of Greece and Rome, gold 
represented the idea of glory, and received the 
homage of the human heart. And in all coun- 
tries from the times of those empires to the 
present hour, and with the control of a divin- 
ity, gold has subjugated human hearts to its 
worship, and the glorification of its name. 
Gold is the Jupiter of modern civilization. 
And the phrases " Yellow Gold " and " Golden 
Yellow " are familiar to all. 

3. " The red or scarlet color signifies moral 
dignity, authority, and power/' As bearing 



88 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

this significance, the cardinals of the Roman 
hierarchy are decked with scarlet; and the 
same color is worn in the Eastern parts of the 
world, by all persons having authority and 
power; such as, for example (in Palestine), the 
Scheik of Hebron, and the farmer on the plain 
of Sharon who moves among his servants in 
the harvest-field wearing a scarlet mantle, after 
the manner of Boaz in ancient times. And 
the basis of this may be found in the physical 
condition and history of man, for instance, 
the life-blood flowing through the arteries and 
diffusing vitality and vigor throughout the 
corporeal system, will sustain the idea of the 
scarlet color being a proper emblem of phys- 
ical power; for " the life is in the blood,'*' and 
with the life is associated the idea and the fact 
of physical force ; and the vital force in the 
blood, and consequent vigor of man arise from 
the cause and occasion of the scarlet color of 
the arterial blood. Moreover by virtue of the 
proper oxidation and electrization of the blood, 
strength is imparted to the nerves and con- 
tractility to the muscles, and firmness to the 
entire organism ; and the man carries his head 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 89 

erect, and his gait is graceful, and he bears his 
manhood bravely and with dignity, as becomes 
his rank among the other creatures upon the 
earth. And physical dignity is the natural 
symbol of mental and moral dignity, although 
it be not in all instances "the outward and 
visible sign " of mental and moral worth. 

4. The " Purple denotes royalty, sovereignty, 
supremacy." 

This color is conceived of as being a union 
of the blue and the red, and thus the ideal sig- 
nificance of the union of benignity with moral 
worth and controlling power ; and hence it is 
the symbol of magisterial man, and of supreme 
magistracy especially. And these ideas are 
represented in the Greek title for the chief 
magistrate or king, which is Baadio^ and is 
compounded of /Wee, a foundation or support, 
and kadq, a people ; and the conception repre- 
sented is that the monarch is the basis or sup- 
port of the people or state. And in accordance 
with this conception, the purple color being 
regarded as the union of the blue with the red, 
and as signifying the union of clemency with 
authority and power, was and still is regarded 

7 



90 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

as the proper symbol of imperial and mon- 
archic dignity and rank. 

5. The " Indigo signifies veracity, in the ver- 
bal expression of benignity, or love, or faithful- 
ness in relation to a promise made." In this 
color the blue is thought of as strengthened or 
confirmed by the requisite addition of the red, 
and thus as denoting the utterance of benig- 
nity or love confirmed by moral dignity, and 
hence most reliable and sure. 

6. The " Green signifies condescension — 
graceful and bounteous condescension." Re- 
garded as being the union of the blue and the 
yellow it is also regarded as the sign of the 
union of goodness and greatness, or munifi- 
cence and glory , and such a union of qualities 
is essential to true condescension with its grace- 
ful and bounteous ways. And the earth is 
clothed with verdure, which is the token and 
proof of its fertility ; and thus of the conde- 
scension of the Deity to the inhabitants of the 
earth for the service of man ; and in the in- 
spired songs of the Hebrews His condescension 
therein was celebrated thus : " Thou makest 
the outgoings of the morning and evening to 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 91 

rejoice." " Thou visitest the earth and water- 
est it; Thou greatly enrichest it with the river 
of God, which is full of water ; Thou preparest 
them corn when Thou hast so provided it; 
Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly ; 
Thou settlest the furrows thereof; Thou mak- 
est it soft with showers; Thou blessest the 
springing thereof; Thou crownest the year 
with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness; 
they drop upon the pastures of the wilderness, 
and the little hills rejoice on every side; the 
pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys 
also are covered with corn ; they shout for joy, 
they also sing." And this celebration is con- 
densed in one line thus : " The earth is full of 
the goodness of the Lord." And when the 
banished Seer on Patmos saw the visions of 
God, he beheld a "throne set in heaven," and 
the ornament of the throne which he saw was 
the symbol of the condescension of the Deity 
towards the earth and the inhabitants thereof, 
he saw an Iris " green as an emerald round 
about the throne." 

7. The " Orange or flame color is the em- 
blem of righteousness" — personal and admin- 



92 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

istrative righteousness or justice. The union 
of the yellow with the red is assumed in the 
significance assigned to the flame color; and 
righteousness or justice is understood to con- 
sist of the union of appreciable excellence "or 
moral glory with moral dignity and power. 
And among the ancients copper (especially 
bright or burnished copper) bore the same em- 
blematic meaning as did the orange or flame 
color. Such, for example, was the usage 
among the Hebrews; and copper is the true 
rendering of the Hebrew term which, in the 
English version, is translated by the word 
" brass." Whether the more ancient peoples 
were acquainted or not with the factitious 
metal called " brass," the metal in question is 
said to have been "dug out of the hills," and 
" melted out of the stone." 

The Hebrew name for copper is derived from 
nah- c ghahsh', the generic word for "serpent;" 
and this word, as a descriptive term, is used to 
mean " serpent," because, as a verb, its pri- 
mary or ideal meaning is "to use attentive or 
subtile observation." As a word of supersti- 
tion it means, to divine, to augur. But as used 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 93 

in a judicial sense the ideal meaning of the 
verb is prominently and forcibly intended, and 
thus it signifies to search with sagacity, and ac- 
curately to discern and decide. And the hiero- 
glyphic significance of the copper is founded 
partly on the natural history of the serpent, 
but more deeply on the ideal meaning and ju- 
dicial use of the term nah- c ghahsh'. 

This may be explained and illustrated thus : 
Men were acquainted with reptiles before me- 
tallic ores were discovered; and the sagacity 
of the serpent tribes had been observed from 
the earliest days. And it may be readily con- 
ceived that when the Hebrew or Phoenician 
miner first saw the brilliantly crystallized cop- 
per ore in the fissure of the rock, and observed 
its resemblance to the burnished bronze in the 
crest of the serpent, he exclaimed n ,c ghoh'- 
sheth ! — that is, serpent-like or serpentine ! 
And when it became known that in chemical 
combination with an acid the copper is a poison 
as deadly as that of the serpent, men had an 
additional reason for regarding that metal as 
being serpent-like. And thus by associating the 
idea of the copper with that of the serpent, and 



94 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

then with the ideal meaning of nah-'ghahsh', 
this metal was adopted as the symbol of right- 
eousness or justice, as was also the orange or 
flame color, inherent in the light. 

And the adoption of this metal to symbolize 
righteousness or justice may have had a yet 
broader basis. For instance, if pure copper 
were taken into a really healthy stomach its 
mere and passing presence there may reason- 
ably be suposed to be innoxious because inac- 
tive, and therefore no organic or physical harm 
would ensue. But if pure copper be taken 
into a stomach whose secretions are acrid and 
corrupt, and the copper being in part dissolved ? 
it would become a deadly poison, and mortal 
disease and death would ensue. But in that 
case the cause of the suffering and death would 
be the corrupt condition of the secretions, or, 
in other words, the physical badness of the 
man and the association therewith into which 
the copper had been brought. And all the 
particulars now under notice, or supposed, are 
true in principle respecting justice and its ju- 
dicial results. 

Righteousness or justice can neither hurt 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 95 

nor alarm the innocent and pure ; for though 
present with those who are such it is inactive, 
being itself innocent and pure ; or, if active, it 
is both a defence and a praise. For justice 
cannot deny itself, cannot dishonor its intrinsic 
nature ; and there is the force of truth in the 
epigrammatic sentence, " Innocence is justice 
in repose; and justice is innocence in ener- 
getic action. 55 Therefore, if from the presence 
and activity of justice punishment overtake 
and death ensue, the suffering and loss of life 
are not caused by the intrinsic nature and the 
presence of justice; but the cause is the moral 
evil or criminality of the man. Justice has 
come in contact with guiltiness, and the guilti- 
ness of the guilty one is that which causes the 
presence of justice to be the occasion of con- 
demnation and death. And the comparison 
and analogy now considered will suffice to 
show the mental basis on which both the cop- 
per and the flame color, its symbolic associate, 
were adopted to denote personal righteousness 
and executive justice. 



96 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 



Third Section. 

THE COLORS INHERENT IN THE LIGHT ARE EMBLEMATIC 
OF THE PERFECTIONS OF THE GODHEAD. 

It has been already remarked that the em- 
blematic use of colors by the nations of an- 
tiquity has been sanctioned of God, and has 
been adopted also in divine communications to 
men. Instances of this are observable in the 
writings of the Hebrew prophets and in the 
Christian Scriptures, particularly in that won- 
drous drama called " The Revelation." And 
in the instances referred to personal and moral 
qualities and official characteristics are denoted 
in accordance with the significance which the 
ancients ascribed to the prismatic hues. 

But it is in the hieroglyphics of the Mosaic 
Economy that the divine sanction and use of 
colors (and their emblematic equivalents) for 
the purpose of divine communication and in- 
struction more prominently appears. 

The Tabernacle constructed by Moses, by 
the command and direction of the Lord, con- 
stituted a system of hieroglyphics; the rudi- 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 97 

ments consisted of prismatic colors and their 
metallic equivalents, and the combinations and 
relations of these in the architecture and furni- 
ture of the sacred tent.* 

Jehovah was the tribal God of the people of 
Israel by virtue of His promises to Abraham ; 
and He became their King when He had freed 
them from the power of Pharaoh, and had 
separated them to Himself. And the Taber- 
nacle erected by Moses was the appointed cen- 
tre of Theocratic Government, the trophy of 
Jehovah's triumph in the redemption of his 
people, the Pavilion of His Divine Majesty, 

* The elaborate symbolism of the Mosaic Eitual — ornate, 
sensuous, and typical — was designed for a nation of men 
u in the flesh;" and is in striking contrast with the chaste 
simplicity of the Christian economy instituted for commu- 
nities of men "in the spirit," and governed by the divine 
verity ; " God is spirit, and they that worship Him must 
worship in spirit and in truth." And, as the only symbols 
pertaining to the Christian Economy are the Ordinances of 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper, the use of superadded em- 
blems is a practical anachronism, and is significant of a ret- 
rograde movement out of the clear light of the Christian 
Revelation into the region of Mosaic u adumbration," or, it 
may be, toward the recesses of mythological darkness. 



98 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

and the Sanctuary in which the worship of the 
God-king of Israel should be duly observed. 
The " pattern " or model of that Tabernacle 
was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai at the 
same time that the specifications were dictated 
to him by the Lord. And it is exceedingly 
probable that the model which was thus shown 
in the presence of the Shekinal glory was 
formed of light, and the refractions, &c., of the 
light ; for the combined significance of its hie- 
roglyphic system is resolvable into the emble- 
matic meaning of the solar light ; and the Tab- 
ernacle, in which it was materialized and em- 
bodied (in its relations to the then distant 
future), was an enigma or parable {napapoXyj)^ the 
solution of which is the Messiah, who is " the 
light." 

The ideas represented in that miraculous 
model were divine ; the pictorial style of their 
representation was human, or at least was fa- 
miliar to and in use among the nations upon 
earth. The ideas were celestial ; their embodi- 
ment terrestrial. The Theocratic ideas sym- 
bolized were from God, but a rudimental ac- 
quaintance with the symbols employed was 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 99 

possessed by the Israelites while in Egypt, 
whence they had recently come ; and this was 
necessary to those symbols being intelligible to 
the rescued tribes.* 

If the nation was to be instructed through 
phonetic language or articulate speech, it must 
be through a language which they understood ; 
and if that nation was to be instructed through 
pictorial representations, it must be through a 
system of signs the rudiments of which were 
already familiar to their minds. Hence the 
hieroglyphics or emblems of Egypt were em- 
ployed by the Lord in the government of his 
nation, and are conspicuous in the colors and 
materials of the Tabernacle, and in the vest- 
ments of the priesthood. The vestiges of 
Egyptian hieroglyphics visible in the ruins and 

* " Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyp- 
tians." And by divine direction he appropriated Egyptian 
hieroglyphs in the architecture of the Tabernacle and vest- 
ments of the priesthood; and this was done on the same 
principle as that on which the Apostles of Christ were en- 
dowed with the power of speaking in languages which they 
had never learned j as, for instance, on " the day of Pente- 
cost." 



100 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

remains of Dendera, Karnac, and Thebes suffice 
to show the significance attached therein to 
prismatic colors, and its identity with the mean- 
ing of the same colors in the hieroglyphics of 
the Hebrews. For instance, the blue beautifies 
the Egyptian " winged symbol," the globe and 
wings (the symbol of a benign Power, and of 
the mantling protection and swift movements 
of his fostering care), and the yellow and the 
red adorn the diadem of the Pharaohs, denot- 
ing the dignity and power and glory of those 
ancient kings ; and a corresponding rudimental 
significance pertained to the colors that adorned 
the Tabernacle of God among the Hebrews. 

1. The colors conspicuous in that sacred and 
Theocratic Tent were the "blue and purple 
and scarlet;" and these were combined in the 
embroidery on the veils that were suspended 
at the entrance to " the court of the Taber- 
nacle," and at the entrance to the " holy place." 
They were more abundantly and gorgeously 
present in " the veil " that separated the " most 
holy" from the holy place, and also in the 
under covering of the Tabernacle, and in the 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 101 

vestments of the high priest they were grandly 
displayed. 

a. The blue signified the benignity, clemency, 
and goodness of the God of Israel, and sym- 
bolized the idea and fact that " God is love." 
And the robe of the high priest of Israel — ex- 
tending from the neck to the ankles — was made 
" all of blue " to signify that while he repre- 
sented Israel before Jehovah, he was towards 
Israel the representative of the true God, 
whose essential quality is Love. And the 
Israelites were commanded of God to " make 
fringes of the borders of the garments/' and to 
" put upon the fringe of the borders a riband 
of blue/ 5 and this was to remind them that 
they were the people and servants of the true 
God, who had, in love, redeemed them to Him- 
self, and had appropriated the azure color to 
Himself, as the symbol of His benignity and 
love. 

b. The purple signified that Jehovah was in 
an especial manner, the King of Israel, that to 
Him alone the allegiance of the nation was 
due; and that all sovereignty pertained to 
Him. 



102 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

c. The scarlet signified that Jehovah was 
the "Holy One of Israel;" who by virtue of 
His moral dignity was incapable of any possi- 
ble or conceivable evil or wrong, and by whom 
all moral evil or sin was utterly abhorred, and 
whose power was mighty against evil, and on 
the side of good. 

And the union of these three colors in the 
embroidery on the veils of the sacred tent, and 
on the ephod and breast-plate of the high 
priest, denoted the homogeneousness and unity 
of the particulars which were emblematically 
shown. 

And in the precious stones of the breast- 
plate, set in fine gold, all the prismatic colors 
seem to have been present, besides the color- 
less brilliancy of the entirety of the light ; for 
therein were the " sardius, topaz, and carbun- 
cle; the emerald, sapphire, and diamond; the 
ligure, agate, and amethyst; and the beryl, 
onyx, and jasper." And the intent and use of 
this " breast-plate of judgment " is indicated in 
the Septuagint, where it is called Xoyewv rdv 
xpiaewv, the oracle of judgment. And the twelve 
precious stones on which severally were graven 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 103 

the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, seem 
to have constituted (in their distinctive names, 
and their several relations to the light) the 
hieroglyphic alphabet of that miraculous oracle, 
the medium of communication between the 
will of Jehovah and the mind of the nation, 
through that of the high priest. 

2. The colorless entirety and pure brilliancy 
of the light was reflected and represented by 
the second covering of Jehovah's Tent, — the 
covering of " goats' hair," to be thought of as 
similar in texture to the shawls of cashmere, 
and sparkling white ; and this fleecy covering, 
which represented the light in its entirety, was 
emblematic of the unity ,and entirety of truth, 
and the maturity of knowledge and under- 
standing and the perfection of wisdom; and 
this emblematic significance it bore, in accord- 
ance with the ideal usages of the ancients, who 
associated in idea the fleece with the snow and 
the snow with the fleece, and both these with 
the venerable maturity of age, and intelligence 
and wisdom. And this ancient usage has the 
divine sanction ; for the record of the visions 
beheld by Daniel the prophet in Babylon, and 



104 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

by the apostle John in Patmos, show that in 
each there was a symbolic representation of 
Deity; and in that of the " Ancient of Days," it 
is said, " whose garment was white as snow, 
and the hair of his head like the pure wool;" 
and in that of the symbolic representation of 
" the living one who became dead and is alive 
again for evermore," even Jesus Christ; it is 
said, " His head and hairs were white like 
wool, as white as snow." And in accordance 
with this ancient and divinely sanctioned 
usage, the fleecy white covering of the Taber- 
nacle was emblematic of the perfect truth and 
knowledge and wisdom of Jehovah, the King 
of Israel. 

3. The curtains with which the sacred court 
of the Tabernacle was inclosed, had an intent 
that accorded with that of the fleecy covering 
of the tent, but with the additional and promi- 
nent significance of a great historical event, — 
the redemption of the tribes. 

Those curtains were made of the textile 
fabric called in the Hebrew shehsh, and in the 
Greek of the Septuagint bussos ; which in the 
English is rendered fine linen, as it is said, " the 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 105 

hangings for the court of fine twined linen." 
And, ideally, the Hebrew term signifies, to be 
cheerful or sprightly ; and this seems to have 
been based on the pure and brilliant whiteness 
of the fabric, which suggested the idea of the 
sunshine, and the hieroglyphic use represented 
the ideas of hilarity or joyousness — the joys of 
redemption, freedom, and exaltation. 

This was the emblematic meaning ascribed 
to the shehsh by the Egyptians; and hence, 
when Joseph, the son of Jacob, had been re- 
deemed from the dungeon, to which he had 
been unjustly consigned, and was exalted by 
the king to the second place in the kingdom of 
Egypt, Pharaoh caused him to be arrayed in 
vestures of this symbolic material. As it is 
recorded : " And Pharaoh took off his ring 
from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, 
and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen 
(shehsh), and put a gold chain about his neck; 
and he made him to ride in the second chariot 
which he had ; and they cried before him, Bow 
the knee ; and he was made ruler over all the 
land of Egypt." 

And in accordance with this Egyptian cus- 
8 



106 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

torn, with which the Israelites were familiar, 
the curtains of the sacred court signified that 
Jehovah's pavilion was surrounded with the 
rejoicings of his ransomed people; and symbo- 
lized the exultations of the tribes when thev 
sang the song of Moses on the margin of the 
Eed Sea, freed from Pharaoh's power. 

4. The metallic materials of the Tabernacle 
were copper, silver, and gold. 

a. The sockets of the pillars of the court, on 
which the curtains and embroidered veils were 
suspended, were made of copper ; and the hie- 
roglyphic meaning of the copper being right- 
eousness, those copper sockets signified that 
the redemption and freedom of Israel was 
founded in righteousness, and that the rescued 
tribes did righteously rejoice over the destruc- 
tion of Pharaoh and his Egyptian host. 

The copper in the Altar on which the holo- 
caust was presented to God, testified of the 
righteous claim of Jehovah to the entire de- 
votedness, in life and conduct, of the people 
whom He had redeemed ; and thus, the Altar 
represents Him, the righteous King. 

The copper in the Laver denoted that right- 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 107 

eousness was a requisite qualification for priest- 
hood in relation to Jehovah, and as represent- 
ing the nation before Him. 

These are a few of the more prominent 
teachings in the hieroglyphic significance of 
the copper. 

6. The silver represented the idea of the 
bland light that flows and shines — not directly 
from the sun but — responsively from the moon. 
Hieroglyphically it signifies redemption and 
the glory of redemption ; in which the perfec- 
tions of the Deity assume their blandest form. 

Among the ancient nations silver was the cir- 
culating medium of commerce, and for that rea- 
son it was the emblem of " ransom price/' and 
thus of redemption; and this usage received 
the divine sanction when, at the first census of 
the tribes, the Lord directed Moses to demand 
of every adult Israelite a half shekel as the 
civil and ceremonial redemption of personal 
life; and the sockets on plinth-work of the 
golden walls were made of the silver which had 
thus been paid into the national treasury. And 
the hieroglyphic significance of this was that 
redemption was the basis on which Jehovah 



108 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

dwelt among the tribes of Israel, and the me- 
dium of His manifested glory in the midst of 
the nation. 

c. The walls of the Tabernacle were formed 
of the " shittim wood" — Mimosa nilotica — in- 
cased in gold. And in the holy place the lamp- 
stand was of solid gold, and the table and the 
altar were of shittim wood incased in gold. 
And in the Holy of holies the Ark was of 
shittim wood incased in gold with a cornice or 
mounting of fine gold ; and the Mercy-seat was 
of solid gold, and of the same mass were the 
cherubim. The gold of the tabernacle signi- 
fied the appreciable excellence or manifestive 
moral glory of Jehovah, the God and King of 
Israel. And being visible from within, and 
seen only by the priesthood, the more profound 
particulars of its hieroglyphic teaching relate 
to the typical* significance of the Tent of the 

* It is not the design of this essay to unfold in any degree 
the typical significance of the Tabernacle of God. The so- 
lution of its enigma or interpretation of its parable, as 
already intimated, is the Messiah or Christ, who is the 
" Light." And the illustrations which, in hieroglyphic 
form, are afforded to the faithful, are exceedingly instruc- 
tive. And as '* many have taken in hand to set forth in 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 109 

Pilgrim God. Nevertheless, that teaching 
does pertain to the historic and Theocratic in- 
tent for which the Tabernacle was reared. On 
the Mercy-seat between the cherubim was the 
governmental Presence of Jehovah, within the 
shekinal glory, to which glorious Presence 
" within the veil," in the most holy place, the 
Apostle Paul seems to allude, when he says of 
the Deity, "who only hath immortality dwell- 
ing in the unapproachable light.*' 

The Holy of holies was the Throne Room of 
Jehovah the King of Israel, and the Mercy-seat 
was His throne, and the cherubim were the 
heraldic supporters of the throne and conserva- 
tors of the glory that dwelt between and be- 
neath their mantling wings. Primarily and 
hieroglyphically the cherubim denoted the gov- 
ernmental attributes of Jehovah, or the execu- 
tive powers of the Theocracy established over 

order " the typical meaning of the Tabernacle and its par- 
ticulars, it may here be observed that no one is qualified to 
unfold those particulars who has not first learned to read the 
hieroglyphic teaching, even as no man is qualified to explain 
a metaphor who has not first become acquainted with the 
language in which the metaphor is expressed. 



110 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

the nation of Israel on the fundamental prin- 
ciples of " the law/' the tables of which were 
deposited within the Ark, which was the basis 
of the Throne. And the law being " holy, 
just, and good/' its presence in the Ark would 
seem to have suggested the style of that ascrip- 
tion of praise to the God of Israel, which says, 
"Justice and judgment are the establishment 
of Thy throne : mercy and truth shall go be- 
fore Thy face." 

d. The preceding particulars include a mere 
outline of the Mosaic emblems, and are in- 
tended to be suggestive only of the hiero- 
glyphic reading, while they intimate the fact 
that in the architecture and furniture of the 
Tabernacle, and in the vestments of its priest- 
hood, the inherent hues and the entirety of the 
solar light are represented. 

5. In the specifications given to Moses on 
the Mount the cherubim are not described, nei- 
ther are their prototypes described by Moses 
in his account of their having been entaberna- 
cled, at the east of the garden of Eden, " to 
keep the way to the tree of life." As it is said, 
" So He (Jehovah Elohheem) expelled the 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. Ill 

Adam, and He entabernacled (from shah-chehn', 
to dwell or cause to dwell) the cherubim, and 
a flaming sword which turned every way (or a 
self-rotating sword-like flame) to keep the way 
to the tree of life." And these cherubic 
guards were the prototypes of those which 
were artistically made of the same mass of gold 
as the Mercy-seat. And in this earliest record 
the cherubim bear a relation to the divine gov- 
ernment and glory corresponding to that borne 
by the cherubim of gold, and to the cherubic 
appearances or forms of the "living creatures" 
(or living ones) described in the recorded vis- 
ions of the prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle 
John. 

Man during his novitiate was not capable of 
forming separate and combined ideas of the 
governmental displeasure of his Creator, and 
of His unlimited knowledge, and suppressive 
might and majestic power, and considerate be- 
nevolence. But he could be sensuously affected 
by the changed appearance of the divine glory, 
which before was bland and attractive, and had 
become seemingly irritated and consuming in 
its rotary force and sword-like flame ; and he 



112 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

could be sensibly affected and restrained by 
means of the cherubic guards — the watchful ob- 
servance of the Eagle, the suppressive might of 
the Bull, the majestic power of the crouching 
Lion, and the beaming kindliness of the Man, 
the facial prototype of himself, and of her who 
was more kindly than himself. And in this 
way he would learn that an attempt to " take 
of the tree of life, and eat and live forever" 
would be followed by an immediate execution 
of the pronounced sentence of death ; and he 
would learn also that the governmental right- 
eousness and the personal kindliness of God, 
his Creator, were alike and unitedly concerned 
in debarring him, as a sinful being, from per- 
petuating his personal existence. 

6. A knowledge of the Edenic cherubim sur" 
vived "the flood," being preserved by Noah, 
and continued by tradition among his descend- 
ants, with a greater or lesser degree of correct- 
ness, as to form and governmental design. 
The hieroglyphic forms found among the sculp- 
tured remains of Egypt and Assyria, especially 
those of Nineveh, even recently exhumed by 
Mr. Layard and others, afford sufficient proof 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 113 

of the above remark. In those remains of a 
remote antiquity, not only are there composite 
forms in sculpture and in colors that answer in 
degree to the cherubim, but also they are found 
to have occupied positions of corresponding 
significance. They were arranged as guards at 
the approaches to the palaces of monarchs and 
the temples of imaginary gods. 

Moreover, the sensible and artistic forms of 
idolatry throughout the world — the ancient 
sigcis of astronomy, those, for instance, of the 
Zodiac and the constellations ; and the more 
prominent symbols in heraldry : all these are 
traceable to a traditionary and deteriorated 
knowledge of the Edenic cherubim — those 
primeval hieroglyphs formed by divine wisdom 
out of the mysterious substance of the solar 
light. 

7. Hieroglyphs literally so called, that is to 
say carved or chiselled symbols, are traceable to 
the antediluvian knowledge of the Edenic 
cherubim. The hieroglyphic history of colors 
may possibly have had the same origin, or it 
may not have commenced before Noah and 
his family beheld that grand Chromatic Arc, 



114 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

which is familiarly called the Rainbow, and is 
the hieroglyphic of God, the token and pledge 
of His perpetual covenant of Providence on 
behalf of an evil and unthankful world. 

a. The record of this absolute covenant of 
benevolence and mercy, and of its instituted 
token or pledge is given thus : " And God 
spake unto Itfoah, and to his sons with him, 
saying, And I, behold I establish my covenant 
with you and with your seed after you : and 
with every living creature that is with you^of 
the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of 
the earth with you ; from all that go out of the 
ark to every beast of the earth : and I will es- 
tablish my covenant with you ; neither shall all 
flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a 
flood ; neither shall there be any more a flood 
to destroy the earth. And God said, This is 
the token of the covenant which I make be- 
tween me and you, and every living creature 
that is with you, for perpetual generations : I 
do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for 
a token of the covenant between me and all 
the earth. And it shall come to pass when I 
bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 115 

be seen in the cloud : and I will remember my 
covenant, which is between me and you and 
every living creature of all flesh; and the 
waters shall no more become a flood to destroy 
all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud, 
and I will look upon it that I may remember 
the everlasting covenant between God and 
every living creature of all flesh that is upon 
the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is 
the token of the covenant which I have estab- 
lished between me and all flesh that is upon the 
earth." 

b. But this divine record, with all the mercy 
and truth expressed therein, is despised and re- 
jected by men, on the alleged discoveries made 
by means of geological research. And respect- 
ing this alleged occasion for skepticism, it may 
be observed substantially, in the words of an 
anonymous writer, that " When geologists have 
wandered in imagination into the regions of 
pre-adamic times, and have traced out in strata 
the slowly accumulating developments of life, 
and have bewildered the mind of others by 
their profound and elaborate doctrines, and by 
the array of their puzzling facts and ingenious 



116 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

theories, and above all the theories of strata 
and classification which yesterday were un- 
known, to-day are doubted, and to-morrow will 
be overthrown; their expressed skepticism is 
to be regarded as that of the heart rather than 
of the intellect, an avowed aversion of the un- 
believing heart rather than a logical conclusion 
of the reason from premises ascertained, i. e., 
when they thus despise and reject." But be- 
yond and above all that may be advanced on 
the basis of observation and sobriety of mind, 
the believer in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, 
will assuredly rely on the Mosaic record, espe- 
cially as knowing that by his Lord and Saviour 
when here on earth that record was verified 
and confirmed. 

c. Further: There are those who do not 
deny the truth of the Mosaic record of the del- 
uge, but assert that " the rainbow was not a 
new phenomenon in the days of Noah ; but had 
been an object of familiar notice from the ear- 
liest times." 

Such objections though they allege, and 
truly allege, that the laws of light and the re- 
fraction of light were the same before as after 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 117 

the deluge, cannot thus excuse their skepticism. 
For before they can offer an excuse for their 
professed disbelief, they must first prove that 
the electric condition of the earth and its at- 
mosphere was the same before as after; and 
that clouds were formed, and rain descended 
on the earth. And this they are not able to do. 

It is impossible to prove, by any kind of evi- 
dence, that the temperature of the atmosphere 
above, in relation to the surface of the earth, 
was the same during the antediluvian period 
as at present or was similar thereto. And it is 
well known that " when the temperature above 
is higher than on the surface, no cloud can be 
formed;" and hence, as a general rule or 
fact, Egypt is without rain. 

And in the cosmogony of Moses there is a 
reference to an early antediluvian and pre- 
adamic time when " the Lord God had not 
caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was 
not a man to till the ground. But there went 
up a mist from the earth and watered the 
whole face of the ground." And it cannot be 
reasonably denied that a corresponding condi- 
tion of the atmosphere prevailed until the time 



118 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

of the deluge; neither can it be rationally de- 
nied that the first appearance of the rainbow 
was at the time, or soon after, when God an- 
nounced his unconditional covenant of provi- 
dential goodness and mercy on behalf of all the 
creatures upon the earth, and said, " I do set 
my bow in the cloud ; and it shall be for a 
token of a covenant between me and the 
earth/' And it should here be observed that 
the original verb nah-than' to set or place, 
means also to give ; as for example, when God 
said to Abraham, " Unto thy seed have I given 
this land." And the words of the covenant of 
providence, " Behold I do set my bow in the 
cloud," are the firm basis of our belief that the 
rainbow was first seen by the post-diluvian in- 
habitants of the earth : and " the highest 
reason for believing anything, is that God has 
said IT." 

d. Moreover : The Lord God has shown that 
He gave and constituted the rainbow, the con- 
firmation of the covenant made with Noah and 
all creatures on earth, — gave it as His oath. 
For, while promising ultimate restoration and 
blessing to the nation of Israel, he says : " For 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 119 

this is as the waters of Noah unto me, for as I 
have sworn that the waters of Noah should no 
more go over the earth ; so have I sworn that 
I would not be wroth with thee." 

The rainbow is the hieroglyphic oath of God. 
And it was intelligible to Noah and his earlier 
descendants ; either by reason of a previous ac- 
quaintance with the emblematic significance of 
the colors in the light, as first shown in the 
Edenic cherubim, or by an intuition given 
them of God. And from Noah and his imme- 
diate family this kind of knowledge descended 
by tradition, to the tribes and nations who 
from Ararat and Shinar went forth upon the 
face of the earth. 

The rainbow presents a hieroglyphic illustra- 
tion of the perfections of the Godhead; the 
purple signifies the supremacy or sovereignty 
of God ; the indigo, His goodness, veracity, and 
faithfulness, expressed in the form of promise ; 
the blue, His clemency, benignity, and love; the 
green, His condescension, in which His goodness 
and glory are combined ; the yellow, His appre- 
ciable excellence or moral and manifestive 
glory ; the orange or flame color, His personal 



120 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

and administrative righteousness ; and the red, 
His moral dignity or holiness and His mighty 
power. 

And while Noah beheld that magnificent 
arc — that token of the covenant — spanning the 
heavens with its beautiful and brilliant hues, he 
would read it off in this manner or to this 
effect : " The supreme hath promised, in His 
benevolence and condescension ; unto the 
manifestation of His glorious excellence; and 
hath pledged His righteousness and holiness 
and power." 

8. Turning now from the Mosaic records to 
the Christian Revelation, we observe, in the 
dramatic and prophetic visions of the Apoca- 
lypse, a use of the prismatic colors, in accord- 
ance with the more ancient usages, as before 
described. 

a. In describing his first celestial vision, the 
entranced and inspired seer says: "And im- 
mediately I was in the Spirit; and behold a 
throne was set in heaven and one sat on the 
throne. And He that sat was to look upon 
like a jasper and sardine stone; and there was 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 121 

a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like 
an emerald." 

The rainbow which he saw, as the mantling 
ornament of the throne, bore the same witness 
with that which is seen to span the heavens on 
the margin of the surcharged cloud. 

And the "jasper and sardine" repeat the 
chief lesson signified by the oracle worn on the 
breast of the levitical high priest. The two 
are the last and the first in that " breastplate 
of judgment," and include the ideas and sig- 
nificance of the series, and thus teach that He 
who sat on the throne was the God of Israel, 
whose promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
and to their descendants, as a nation cannot 
fail. 

b. And when recording his last celestial 
vision,* the favored apostle says : " And there 

* This vision of the celestial arrangement, called " the 
bride of the Lamb," stands in strong contrast with a vision 
in a preceding part of the apocalyptic drama ; in which 
vision a corrupt politico-religious system is described under 
the symbol of an impure woman, of whom it is said, u And 
the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and 
gilded with gold, and (decked) with precious stones and 

9 



122 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

came unto me one of the seven angels who had 
the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, 
and talked with me saying, Come hither, I will 
show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he 
carried me away in the spirit to a great and 
high mountain and showed me that great city, 
the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven 
from God, having the glory of God ; and her 
light was like unto a stone most precious, even 
like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." 

And again he says, "And the wall of the 
city had twelve foundations and in them the 
names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" . . . 
" And the building of the wall of it was of jas- 
per ; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear 
glass. And the foundations of the wall of the 
city were garnished with all manner of precious 
stones. The first foundation was jasper; the 
second sapphire; the third a chalcedony; the 

pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomina- 
tions," &c. And in this case — even in this case — the colors 
and gold and precious stones, are of the same import as in 
the case of the pure, the heavenly, and the divine. For 
they signify what that corrupt system claims, and falsely 
claims, to be ; but its actual quality and character is signi- 
fied by the evil contents of the golden chalice. 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 123 

fourth an emerald; the fifth sardonyx; the 
sixth sardius ; the seventh chrysolite ; the 
eighth beryl ; the ninth a topaz ; the tenth a 
chrysoprasus ; the eleventh a jacinth; the 
twelfth an amethyst. And the twelve gates 
w r ere twelve pearls; every several gate was of 
one pearl; and the wide street of the city was 
pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I 
saw no temple therein; for the Lord GTod Al- 
mighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 
And the city had no need of the sun, neither 
of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of 
God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 
thereof." 

By this description of celestial and hiero- 
glyphic architecture we are reminded of the 
"pattern" of the Tabernacle shown to Moses 
on Mount Sinai in presence of the glory of 
God, but with this difference : that hiero- 
glyphic model and its material representative, 
the Tent of the Pilgrim God, symbolized mani- 
festations of Deity, and evolutions of the divine 
will, to be known on earth and during the prog- 
ress of time ; but this style of hieroglyphic ar- 
chitecture relates to the full accomplishment of 



124 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. , 

the divine purpose and grace in the realizations 
of eternity in the heavens; and yet it bears a 
retrospective relation to the history of redemp- 
tion to God, and eternal life in His Son. For 
instance, this retrospective relation is indicated 
where it is said, " And the wall of the city had 
twelve foundations, and in them the names of 
the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." These 
foundations, being " garnished with all manner 
of precious stones," are emblematic of the 
teaching of the Apostles of Christ, or rather of 
the various and precious forms of the truth 
taught through them by the light of Christ and 
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As it is 
said to the faithful, "Ye are built upon the 
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone, in 
whom all the building fitly framed together in- 
creaseth unto an holy temple in the Lord." 
But here it must be borne in mind that Christ 
is The Foundation, " The Bock;" as it is writ- 
ten, " For other foundation can no man lay 
than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 

The " foundation of the apostles and proph- 
ets" consists of the fundamental principles and 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 125 

forms in the unity of divine truth as taught by 
the twelve, the chief of which are the doctrines 
of the personal Deity, the perfect atonement, 
the resurrection triumph, and the moral glory 
of Jesus. And the twelve foundations, de- 
scribed by him " who bare record of all things 
that he saw," are emblematic of the perfections 
of the Godhead, as these are announced and 
described in the Christian Revelation. And 
respecting the moral perfections of the God- 
head, an interesting illustration is found in the 
colors of certain of the precious stones in the 
breastplate of the high priest of Israel, and in 
the foundations of the celestial city ; as, for in- 
stance, the carbuncle and the emerald, which 
sparkle in the sunshine with the hues of the 
flame color and the green. To present this 
illustration we must recur to the solar spec- 
trum, and repeat certain observations touching 
the effect of the prism in relation to the white 
light. 

It has already been shown that the white light 
is not "decomposed" by means of the prism, 
neither is it " dispersed " or separated in the 
solar spectrum. In the rainbow and in the 



126 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

spectrum the light is revealed, even as in Holy 
Scripture the Godhead is revealed. The light, 
which is the created and constituted emblem of 
the Godhead, and is homogeneous and indivisi- 
ble in its nature and constitution, cannot be de- 
composed, but its essential constituents and its 
active principles or virtues can be and are re- 
vealed ; and in the revelation of the light, as 
seen in the solar spectrum, each color is found 
to be indivisible ; as, for instance, the flame color 
and the green. And that the combined colors, 
or those which are thus considered in hiero- 
glyphic usage, are each indivisible is shown in 
this manner : A small aperture is made in the 
screen on which the solar spectrum is dis- 
played, and in the space occupied by one of the 
colors, the green, for instance, and the ray that 
passes through the aperture passes also through 
a second prism, and on a second screen the 
same color is seen ; or if the aperture be made 
in the space occupied by the orange or flame 
color, the same flame color appears on the sec- 
ond screen. And the illustration which is thus 
afforded may be thus described : The green, in 
the divine system of solar hieroglyphics, is the 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 127 

emblem of the condescension of the Deity, in 
which the benignity and manifestive glory of 
God are in perfect combination and unison. 
Each of these perfections being severally sym- 
bolized by the blue and the yellow, the green 
is emblematically regarded as the combination 
and union of the two ; and thereby the majesty 
and goodness of God are shown to be displayed 
in graceful union in his condescension to man 
upon the earth. 

And the orange or flame color, in the same 
divine system of hieroglyphics, is the emblem 
of the righteousness of the Deity ; and more 
generally, as having the same significance as 
the burnished copper, it is emblematic of the 
governmental righteousness of God, or His 
righteousness as concerned and manifested in 
the way of executive justice, And as the 
manifestive excellence of God is symbolized by 
the yellow, and His moral dignity by the red, 
the flame color is regarded as being the union 
of these two, and as symbolizing the union of 
the appreciable moral excellence of God and 
His moral dignity or holiness, in the execution 
of justice and judgment, on account of and 



128 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

against moral evil or sin. By virtue of His 
moral dignity God "cannot deny Himself," 
cannot do wrong ; and by virtue of His appre- 
ciable moral excellence He always, and always 
must, do right And in this known combina- 
tion of the perfections of God the believer con- 
fides with unquestioning trust, and the holy 
angels observe therein a theme of admiration 
and adoring praise. 

c. In describing one of the interludes in the 
apocalyptic drama the Seer says : " And I saw 
a mighty angel come down from heaven 
clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was over 
his head, and his face was as the sun, and his 
feet as pillars of fire." 

Whatever may be the prophetic intent of the 
vision described the personage beheld claims 
an especial consideration, for the hieroglyphic 
portraiture can pertain to none other than the 
Son of God, the Christ, one of whose ancient 
titles is " The Angel Jehovah, or the Jehovah 
Angel," and to whom only such phenomenal 
characteristics are ascribed. For example, in 
the record of His transfiguration it is said, 
" And His face did shine as the sun, and His 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 129 

raiment was white as the light." And in the 
first vision of the Apostle at Patmos His ap- 
pearance was "like" unto a human being 
clothed with a garment down to the foot, and 
girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. 
His head and His hairs were white like wool, 
as white as snow, and His eyes were as a flame 
of fire, and His feet like unto fine copper, as if 
they glowed in a furnace. 

In these similar portraitures the feet " like 
unto fine copper" glowing in a furnace, and 
"like pillars of fire," signify righteousness, 
and the movements of the Christ in the way of 
righteous rule and judicial decision, as He has 
said: "For the Father judge th no one; but 
hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 
that all should honor the Son, even as they 
honor the Father." And his face appearing 
"as the sun," repeats in emblematic splendor 
that in Him the glory of the entirety of God is 
revealed, and that the knowledge of the moral 
glory of Deity is given " in the face of Jesus 
Christ." And the rainbow above His head de- 
clares Him to be the Administrator of the an- 
cient covenant of Providence, and that in Him 



130 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

the perfections of the Godhead are manifested 
in assuring grandeur and glory. Keeping in 
view the brilliant colors of the rainbow and 
the hieroglyphic significance of each, and the 
order in which they have been already consid- 
ered, we observe that, 

In the Son, even Jesus Christ, and by Him 
the sovereignty or supremacy of the Godhead 
is asserted and sustained. " All authority in 
heaven and on earth is vested in Him." " He 
is Lord of all." " He is the faithful and true 
Witness;" and " all the promises of God are in 
Him, the yea, and in Him, the Amen." And 
by Him and in Him the love of God is declared, 
and is manifested and demonstrated. In Him 
is seen the truth that " God is love." In Him 
the condescension of God is exemplified ; He 
" was rich, but for our sakes He became poor, 
that we through his poverty might be rich." 
He " being in the form of God thought it not 
robbery to be equal with God; but emptied 
(hevaxre) Himself, and took upon Him the form 
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of 
men. And being found in fashion as a man 
He humbled Himself, and became obedient 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 131 

unto death, even the death of the cross." And 
in Him the appreciable excellence or moral 
glory of the Godhead is manifested to angels 
and to men. And He is the righteous one by 
whose voluntary and sacrificial death the right- 
eousness of God in the forgiveness of sins is 
declared; and He is " Jehovah our righteous- 
ness;" and He is the righteous judge, "the 
judge of all the earth," whose moral excellence 
and dignity will be equally and in unison mani- 
fested in the final judgments of His mouth. 
And He is " the Holy one of Israel," the 
" Holy one of God," in whom the beauty of 
holiness was conspicuous, and by whose " sacri- 
fice of himself" the holiness of the divine gov- 
ernment was vindicated; and He is " the power 
of God," and even when here in humiliation 
He was " upholding all things by the word of 
His power." "And He is before all things, 
and by Him all things consist." 

d. Again, considering that celestial and 
hieroglyphic design which, having been seen 
in vision, is called "the Holy Jerusalem," it is 
to be observed that the sign of the preternaiu- 



132 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

ral* is visible thereon. For instance : " Her 
light was like unto a stone most precious, even 
like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;" and 
"the city was pure gold, like unto clear 
glass;" and "the wide-way of the city was 
pure gold, as if transparent glass." 

The qualities and characteristics thus de- 
scribed are evidently intended to indicate the 
preternatural; and then the description rises 
up to the supernatural* where it is said, " And 
the city had no need of the sun, neither of the 
moon to shine in it ; for the glory of God did 
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." 
And by these hieroglyphic indications of the 
preternatural and the supernatural, we are led 

* To the words " preternatural ,? and " supernatural " 
respectively, a distinctive meaning is ascribed in the text, 
and may be thus illustrated : The word natural is thought 
of as a term descriptive of the ordinary course or state of 
things ; and the word preternatural is used in its commonly 
received meaning, as signifying that which is beyond the 
natural; and the word " supernatural " is used in its true 
meaning, as signifying above that which is natural, and 
above all nature. God and the new creation must be pres- 
ent to the mind, when the word supernatural is grammati- 
cally and properly employed. 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 133 

to reflect on the difference and contrast be- 
tween the highest kind and degree of knowl- 
edge possible in the present life, and that 
which shall be made known in the promised 
state of immortality and celestial beatitude. 
And on this subject an apostle of Christ has 
said, " For we know in part and we prophesy 
in part. But when that which is perfect is 
come, that which is in part shall be done 
away. For now we see by means of a mirror, 
in an enigma; but then face to face; now I 
know in part; but then shall I know even as 
also I am known." And herein he speaks not 
merely of a partial or imperfect attainment in 
spiritual knowledge, during this present life ; 
but teaches that the revelation of Deity and of 
divine realities, given by inspiration of the 
Holy Spirit, is given on the principle of " in 
part," and not on the principle of entirety. 

And this characteristic of divine Eevelation 
is adumbrated in the solar spectrum, by what 
are called " the dark lines " therein ; but which 
lines are more correctly described as being 
non-luminous; for, in the light " there is no 
darkness at all," no darkness in the created 



134 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

emblem of God. Those non-luminous lines 
intimate that the light, which manifests all 
things, is not itself, wholly or entirely revealed ; 
for the solar force is well known to be present 
and effective where those lines are observed, 
and also beyond the spectrum — beyond the end 
where the red color is seen. And if we could 
as closely observe the natural spectrum of the 
solar light — the rainbow — we might perceive 
the same indication that the light is not wholly 
revealed; and thereby the fact is symbolized 
that in Holy Scripture the Deity is revealed 
"in part" and not of entirety. 

And seeing that God only can reveal Himself 
to us ; that flesh and blood cannot reveal to us 
that Jesus is " the Christ," only the Father can ; 
" neither knoweth any man the Father save the 
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal 
Hirn;" and the Holy Spirit only is the immedi- 
ate testifier concerning the Son, and the glori- 
fier of Him on the earth, even as He, the Son, 
did here glorify the Father ; it is most evident 
that our acquaintance with the Godhead must 
of necessity be in the way of faith and spiritual 
understanding. And the faith which believes 



SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 135 

God is characterized as that of a " little child;" 
and for this reason, namely, that whatever 
truth or form of truth is revealed to us is an 
object of faith and spiritual discernment; and 
that which is an object of spiritual discernment 
cannot be to us a subject of logical reasoning, 
because our knowledge and capability of knowl- 
edge is limited by the revelation given. 

And as it is true that while in the present 
state of existence we know God "in part" only 
and on the principle of "in part;" so also is it 
divinely true that "the realities of the future 
state," the state of immortal beatitude, are only 
in part revealed. "But when that which is 
perfect is come, that which is in part shall be 
done away." "Now we see by means of a 
mirror in an enigma; then face to face; now we 
know in part; then shall we know even as also 
we are known :" and so it is written, " Beloved, 
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not 
yet appear what we shall be; but we know that 
when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for 
we shall see Him as He is." And when we 
are perfected in His likeness, and see Him as 
He is, and know Him as also we are known of 



136 SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS. 

Him by a community of knowledge with Him- 
self; then, in the inheritance and home of the 
immortals, we shall both mentally and experi- 
mentally know the full power and blessedness 
of the truth, that "The Lamb is the light 

THEREOF.' 5 

And while waiting for the consummation of 
the Christian hope let all the faithful in Christ 
Jesus still confess and declare, saying, " We 
worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in 
Unity; neither confounding the persons, nor 
dividing the substance. For there is one Per- 
son of the Father, another of the Son, and an- 
other of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of 
the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is 
all one; the glory equal, the majesty coeter- 
nal." So the Father is God, the Son is God, 
and the Holy Ghost is God ; yet there are not 
three Gods, but one God. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and 
to the Holy Ghost : as it was in the beginning, 
is now, and ever shall be, world without end. 
Amen. 







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